The Fable of the Five Realms
by Eduard Tubin
Summary: The Avatar Earth shares the solar system with a more advanced civilization that wishes to contact the Avatar and Fire Loard Zuko because their world may suffer an impact by Sozin's comet in a hundred years time. This is the story of their first contact.
1. Chapter 1

**The Fables of the Five Realms**

**Chapter 1: The Little Prince**

From: Prince Eigen – The Royal Prince of Lestria

To: King Augustus II of Oiropa.

Dear Father:

I cannot help but feel uneasy as I prepare to greet the diplomatic mission from our sister planet of Eridan – the Planet of the Four Nations. Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang have recently concluded a peace treaty that ended a war that spanned fifty five of our years and I do not know if they rule a people fully ready for the huge cultural impact contact with our world will have.

On Duria, we have had interplanetary travel for over two centuries but we have avoided contact with the world of the Fire Lord and Avatar because we _feared_ the cultural impact they might have upon us. Only after their Great War ended did some come to believe we could benefit from trade and exchange with the Planet of the Four Nations.

We studied their culturally sophisticated civilizations from afar and we pondered how another race of humans could exist on another planet. Some think we share a common ancestry and at one time many tens of thousands of years ago we may have come from Eridan or they came from Duria. Do we really want to open those questions up for careful examination? The more conservative among our people prefer their own popular prejudices and enjoy a comfortable belief in our inherent superiority. They will dislike the idea that we have come from the same stock as our raucous neighbors one planet away.

When our agents contacted Fire Lord Zuko and revealed themselves; he asked if our advanced medicine could restore his sister, the Princess Azula, a female. The Eridani still have the female gender and heaven forbid if one day a female set foot on our planet! Some might tolerate it as a sign of the times and yet others among us might show their anger that a female touch Durian soil. Such ideas do not linger far below the surface for many of us.

I do wish to spare their world from the disaster that faces them when Sozin's comet returns. It would smash their world to ash. I know we have the technology to save their world and must co-operate with them do accomplish this feat. I know technology gives us the ability to accomplish many great things the Eridani cannot imagine but once the illusion of power fades; both our races remain frail and human. Our desire to help our poorer neighbor shows charity but I have my grave doubts as I await the coming diplomatic mission.

I have my duty to _Our Empire_ and to my loving father. I will not fail in this mission but I wished to take time to express some of my doubts about the course of action we have chosen. I will depart in one week and I have immersed myself in my studies of Eridani culture. I will do our House proud. Pray to the Gods for the success of my mission.

Your Son: Prince Eigen

* * *

Duria orbited the Jovian sized gas giant planet of Bellaria – a name taken for an ancient God of beauty. Bellaria had great beauty with intricate rings and bands of yellow, tan and white and the varied assortment of seven moons that orbited it. Duria lay the furthest out at seven million kilometers and only it supported advanced life. The next two moons had Martian like atmospheres and liquid water and hosted microbes but no advanced life. The inner moons ranged in size from the size of Mercury to the same size as the Earth's moon. The massive gravitational field of the gas giant Bellaria explained why the Royal Imperial Yacht the _Imperia_ had such massive engines and such a large, long profile.

It took the _Imperia_ four weeks to travel from Eigen's home planet to the strange new World of the Four Nations as they had come to call it. The positions of the two planets determined the travel time and Eigen had not left at the best time. The _Imperia_ had a long and thin profile and measured over a kilometer in length. It needed imensely powerful engines to provide power to drive the large ship out of the gravity well of the gas giant planet. The _Imperia_ had fifty crew and two hundred passengers and servants who performed tasks from cleaning to cooking and everything in between. It consisted of a long central section shaped like a long, thick square pole with the engines at the rear and the shuttle bay at the front. The center housed the spinning passenger sections that looked like large rectangles twirling on long arms. The Durians had taken time to give the outside of the ship as attractive a finish as possible with off white finish and blue accents. The outer layer that finished the huge ship also protected it from the cosmic rays sent out by the Sun and consisted of a dense alloy of depleted Uranium, Iron and Carbon a foot thick. A layer of urethane foam half a meter thick provided thermal protection while a steel skin formed the inner surface. The few windows that looked out into space consisted of a sandwich of foot thick lead glass on the inside and a slab of foot thick denser glass doped with rare earth elements with a gap filled with high pressure argon and nitrogen half a meter across between them to provide a thermal break and to provide the same kind of protection an atmosphere provided against cosmic rays. The _Imperia_ did not make any attempt to shed mass or look light and made use of two fusion reactors to provide power and thrust. The total result of all of these layers of protection meant that Prince Eigen would receive less of a dose of radiation traveling between the two planets then he would receive spending a day in the Fire Nation.

Prince Eigen knew the nature of the planet of the Four Nations. It had a gravitational field about two percent stronger than Duria and he would barely notice that. The doctors had told him he would encounter and atmosphere with about three fifths the oxygen of that of his Homeworld. In real terms that worked out to the equivalent of climbing a five kilometer tall mountain and they gave him drugs to help his body adjust. He worried about the heat. The warmest days on Homeworld reached only 30 degrees at the warm regions of the equator and then only during the summer during heat waves. Their probes had measured heat waves where the temperature went beyond 40 degrees with humidity for weeks during the summer.

Captain Varyen rode the tram that took personnel down the center spine of the huge ship. The acceleration pushed him into the cushioned royal blue cloth of the seat. The tram could take a dozen crew people to different parts of the ship but the captain had the white plastic covered tram car to himself. The tram stopped and the captain floated out in zero gravity. Even though he had sailed the reaches of the solar system for two thirds of his life, he held the hand holds and made it toward the hatch that led to the spinning sections. The hatch led through the very center section and so while the center of the ship did not spin, a large round hatch led to the spinning section. He had to make certain he had opened the right hatch for the ship had two habitat sections that spun on long arms. The hatch opened and the Captain floated through. Captain Varyen could see the white plastic roof and white lights spinning over his head as he waited for the elevator that lead to Prince Eigen's quarters to slowly spin past him. He grabbed the grab bars and pressed the red button to call the elevator. He felt his weight returning as the elevator descended into the living quarters.

The captain left the elevator and walked down the long hall to the lounge where Prince Eigen had set up a kind of informal office.

Prince Eigen placed his tablet computer on the table and raised his left hand in a salute, "Greetings captain."

"Even with our best surveys, our data on their culture remains incomplete." Captain Varyen looked at the tablet computer which displayed Prince Eigen's Mandarin lesson. Captain Varyen never expressed emotion and stated his opinions and the facts with equally well thought out blandness. He had a clean shaven square jawed face like that of a tough football coach but he expressed his displeasure or in the form of well timed stern stares. He had earned a reputation as a talented captain and wore the robes of a highly decorated commander but spoke softly and carried the big stick.

Captain Varyen blandly stated a plain fact. "You may find you have a difficult path ahead of you."

"Many of our own people doubt our intentions. I have heard what many our the royal families have to say and much of it is very pessimistic. Had the Empire's most skilled captain not placed his confidence in the mission and had I not volunteered my skills for the mission; I doubt the Imperial Court would have allowed us to use their flagship." Prince Eigen smiled confidently. "I must do my best to make our mission a success and make a good impression on our hosts."

Prince Eigen had the sweet looks of a young man only beginning his life with his eager looking teal colored eyes. Captain Varyen had lived three times as long as the Prince Eigen but the prince had the luck of having a lofty social position. The captain hoped the prince could handle such an important diplomatic mission and he hoped the reputation of the likable young Prince Eigen would survive the controversy surrounding the mission. The prince had a keen mind but like most members of the Noble Caste; he was as much engineered as trained, lacked the intuition experience bestowed and was naïve to a fault.

Prince Eigen placed his tablet computer on the table and raised his left hand in a salute. "I have to thank you for your support."

"You have put in a great deal of effort to study their language." Captain Varyen looked at the tablet computer which displayed Prince Eigen's latest Mandarin lesson.

"A friend of mine has studied their language and translated some of their children's literature for me." Eigen tapped his finger on the tablet. "At least I can make a brave attempt to learn their written language although I must admit I wished they had an alphabet."

"During their long War we tried all sorts of methods to study their culture directly." Captain Varyen sat down at the table when Prince Eigen motioned for him to do so. He sat on a high backed blue cloth covered chair bolted to the floor next to the table. "Our scientists had fits trying to develop probes that could covertly observe the culture – they were only partly successful. Our robots could hide and observe from a distance. A few brave souls landed on the planet and lived among the natives but they took great risks and some never returned home."

"I have plans to ask Fire Lord Zuko and the Avatar if they know their fate." Prince Eigen sighed. "Of course I do not expect they will have much useful information."

"You have a singular honor. I will never have the chance to set foot on an alien world." The captain said. Captain Varyen could see through the window by Eigen's table and could sense the spinning motion of the center section. The stars moved as the section spun to provide the sensation of gravity so things on the ship would behave properly.

"You have explored the Solar System." Eigen said in a comforting way.

"We watched from afar and sent our spies but _you _will be the first person to openly set foot on another inhabited world." Captain Varyen gently corrected the prince. "I am your captain and as your captain I must ask you to take a break and make sure you don't overdo things. Take time to relax and enjoy the ship."

* * *

The shuttle hovered over the very same courtyard where Prince Zuko, Katara and Princess Azula had battled. The pilot deployed the landing struts and a deafening roar filled the palace courtyard as he hovered and then slowly descended onto the stone pavement of the palace court. The shuttle had the long and thin body of a military helicopter but wore the same white and blue color scheme as the _Imperia_. It had two canards below the side windows of the cockpit. A set of three skids came out of the body of the shuttle as it descended – one large on at the front ant two smaller ones at the rear.

Prince Eigen sat in the seat next to the pilot and breathed a sigh of relief as the shuttle finally touched down on solid ground with a dull thud. He felt his gut tighten as the scram jet engines went from a rushing howl to silence and he realized that history would record him and his pilot as the first people from his world to land on this world.

Prince Eigen had spent three weeks on board the royal interplanetary yacht - the _Imperia_. The ship had ferried the Royal family from the home planet to the colonies. While the Planet of the Four Nations fought their Great War, the Durians had spread from Homeworld to the furthest reaches of the Solar Systems: even to ice bound worlds on the outer reaches of the system. Prince Eigen longed for the comforts of the _Imperia_ as he watched the Fire Nation delegation with Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko walking toward the shuttle. Prince Eigen felt the pilot undo his five point restraint and guide Prince Eigen out of the cramped space of the cockpit.

"I am Prince Eigen." Prince Eigen whispered under his voice as he waited and the pilot opened the door. They had rehearsed some things and the agents of Duria sent in secret after the War had given Fire Lord Zuko a special receiver to help plan this event. Even with such preparation, Prince Eigen did not know if every detail had been taken into account. The door slid open and Prince Eigen stood quietly as the Fire Nation delegation approached. Prince Eigen nervously adjusted his uniform and took his time to let his body become accustomed to the gravitational field of a planet once more. The ramp slowly unfolded and touched the ground and Prince Eigen reached for a small palmtop computer in a shiny metallic blue case with a flat touchscreen that translated for him until he fully picked up on the language and placed it on his belt. He placed a tiny earpiece in his left ear and then stepped down the ramp.

Prince Eigen found himself surrounded by new sensations. He had studied for this mission but their sun beat down with more force on this planet. He knew Duria had a cooler climate, heavier atmosphere with more carbon dioxide and lay almost a hundred million more kilometers further from the Sun than Eridan. He could breath but felt like he had climbed to great heights as this planet had a thinner atmosphere. The heat and humidity struck him like some kind of invisible wall and even though he had taken medication to prevent heatstroke he felt weak. His eyes would have struggled had he not had implants in his cornea that dimmed the light to bearable levels. His pilot checked his sidearm – a taser type weapon which would not prove lethal. He followed behind the princess in a similar uniform to Eigen's but accented in olive. At least the gravity seemed normal although he had spent three weeks in space in the weaker bond of artificial gravity which never quite felt normal. He saw new trees that had strange long leaves – Eigen had never seen a palm tree or any tropical flora and he studied the details carefully.

The_ Imperia _had a swarm of bored botanists, geoscientific experts and other scientists who wanted a chance to collect warm and cold specimens and poke their instruments on the Planet of the Four Realms. They had to wait for Eigen to conduct his negotiations and if the young prince failed; he would gravely disappoint all of them.

Fire Lord Zuko watched the door of the strange craft slide in and then open. A young man stood in the doorway and looked on. The strange man had braided, long teal hair and blue eyes and wore a dark blue uniform with a black vest. It fitted him loosely and looked to Zuko almost like something worn by Fire Nation nobles. He stood shorter than most but Zuko had no idea if this was the norm for this new nation.

Avatar Aang did not know what to think as he saw Prince Eigen. Prince Eigen had a kind face and except for his odd hair color would count as handsome. He had delicate features and looked like someone raised among royalty without want for anything. Had someone suggest to him that their world had a neighboring planet when he lived as an Air Nomad – he would have thought them unhinged. He faced a new reality as the Avatar and had experienced many strange things in his adventured that opened his mind.

Avatar Aang watched the new arrival and one question entered his mind. "Has he really come from a world with no women?" Aang asked Zuko in a hushed whisper as they walked toward the shuttle craft that in Aang's mind could not fly without air bending.

"Odd that you would ask that first." Zuko whispered back. He had taken care to make certain the young prince would not see women in his stay. Lady Mai had retreated with her retinue of servants to the relative isolation of their home on Ember Island with Lady Ursa and Princess Azula.

Zuko tried to look unimpressed and calm but he had fallen under the spell of the Durian's advanced technology. Zuko wanted to know how something without a balloon or wings could hover and fly. He had many questions such as '_what was it made out of?_' and _'how could it tap such power that it could defy gravity?_'

Zuko bowed as Prince Eigen and the severe looking pilot now acting as his guard approached within two meters and stopped. Prince Eigen saw the Fire Lord dressed in his ceremonial black and red robes and wondered how he kept from fainting in the unbearable heat. The Fire Nation guards wore the same dress but stood by awaiting Zuko's orders or the next action on the ceremonial itinerary. Avatar Aang wore unassuming saffron yellow robes with the symbol of the Air Nomads carved in a wooden disk that hung from his neck. The Avatar looked like a boy and Eigen who had not quite come to grips with the concept of the Avatar. Eigen thought Aang looked vaguely ridiculous with his blue arrow tattoos. Eigen held back slight irritation since it looked as if the great Avatar – their spiritual leader – had no inclination to greet him in decent clothing.

"Welcome to our world." Avatar Aang bowed in synch with Zuko and spoke his greeting.

"Thank you." Prince Eigen relied on his palmtop computer to translate for him and hoped the slight delay would go unnoticed. He raised his left hand and held it in greeting. "I am honored to meet you."

Fire Lord Zuko heard the strange language of Prince Eigen: a tongue filled with sweet sounding vowels, soft consonants and a syncopated rhythm. A voice matching his came from a thin blue box his belt and translated his words after the Prince had finished speaking.

"I am grateful to the help you provided to help my sister." Zuko cleared his throat as Aang shuffled uneasily in the heat of his yellow Air Nomad robes.

"You are most welcome." Prince Eigen spoke as he studied Zuko. Zuko looked like a strong leader although the scar seemed to cast a bit of an air of disreputably to him. Prince Eigen could not imagine a member of such a high caste choosing to keep such a birth defect or allowing mental illness to go untreated but he knew aliens _were _alien. "She will remain well as long as she takes her medication."

"Shall we retreat inside where it is cooler?" Zuko offered and gestured with his hand. Zuko felt relieved that the encounter went well but had noticed the Prince and his guard had begun to look haggard from the heat. He knew they came from a cooler planet and the harsh thirty five degree heat and humidity made them uncomfortable and short of breath.

"May I ask the name of your guard?" Aang followed alongside Zuko. Aang noticed the pair of them walked in step as if trained. Aang had many questions about their exotic culture and they ran through his mind as he walked with Zuko. 'How did they live without women?' Aang wondered but he had received some warnings not to ask the Prince such questions.

"No." Prince Eigen said with a sudden abruptness that made Aang take pause. Aang had learned from Zuko and the experts brought together to deal with this visit that the Prince came from society based on a caste system.

"I am sorry." Aang bowed as he walked backwards.

"I should not have spoken so abruptly." Prince Eigen felt some relief as they entered the Fire Nation palace through two red varnished doors held open for them by two guards. "I have to admit I am a bit overwhelmed."

"I will take you to your quarters." Zuko began. "We have provided seperate quarters for your guard next to you."

"Thank you but my guard stays with me." Prince Eigen had come from a society full of formal expressions and levels of address and found the manner in which the Fire Lord spoke casually and directly quite shocking. Eigen had not expected a palace to look and feel so bleak. The floor had gray slate tile polished to a dark charcoal. The walls had red and gold wallpaper that ate the sunlight. The lamps hung from golden hooks cast a red and dreary glow. Eigen had grown up in the_ Lestrian Luftpalast _which had light, cool colors, white pine floors, ornate white plaster ceilings, frescoes and works of art. Above all, it had huge windows – some of artistic stained glass telling historical tales that let sunlight pour through.

"May I call you Eigen?" Aang asked quietly in an attempt to begin the conversation anew.

"May I call you Aang?" Eigen smiled for the first time. "It seems only fair."

"Certainly." Aang smiled. Aang had studied the information they had on Eigen's home planet and the culture. Aang decided to take the egalitarian approach and try his best to act as his friendly self since most normal people liked friendly people and it took much less effort than trying to understand Eigen's way of life. Aang had learned Eigen's people lived in a patriarchal society based on a caste system made up entirely of men. They had a monotheistic religion based on something that translated as the Great Lord or God of All Things though no one really followed it. Aang could not understand the family lines or how they decided who became king and what made Eigen a prince. Even stranger, these people had no knowledge of bending. Aang had many questions for Eigen and even desired to visit their planet but doubted the culturally aloof and iconoclastic Durians would not allow it.

Zuko had been told Eigen's people had told him they had no interest in his nation and his world except to prevent its destruction when Sozin's comet returned in a century. Zuko did not know if this made sense. The Durians might have a sincere desire to prevent a catastrophe and they wished to establish trade. Fire Lord Zuko figured Prince Eigen had no military experience. He had a guard to protect him and looked like someone who needed protecting. At the same time, Zuko knew it was wise to keep Eigen confined to the palace during the visit. The world already knew of their human neighbors orbiting the gas giant planet sixty million kilometers further out from the Sun. They had seen the Avatar return and the Fire Nation defeated and so this appeared as one more sign of the times. Zuko and Eigen's people had agreed the greatest danger came from the spread of ideas and technology among the less advanced people of the Planet of Four Nations.

* * *

"I am a singularly lonely person." Prince Eigen said to himself as he sat at the blood red varnished desk and entered a report into the tablet computer. He had a large room with a washroom with fixtures of fine pink marble with gold fixtures. He had a large four poster bed with red linen and the nightstand had red vase with a delicate arrangement of red flowers. He had not talked to anyone in the Fire Nation save Fire Lord Zuko and the Avatar and then only when the meetings had been arranged. He had spent only a quarter of the day on this planet – this planet had half hour longer days by his reckoning.

A knock came at his door. His guard opened door and Fire Lord Zuko announced himself.

"Please enter." Prince Eigen said.

"I hope I didn't disturb you." Fire Lord Zuko waved to dismiss his retinue of two guards as he sat down in a red velvet ornate chair next to the large window. Prince Eigen's guard remained in the room and kept an eye on Zuko. A small square silver box with colorful buttons on the front about the size of a breadbox sat on the desk and made a faint buzzing sound. It emitted cold blasts of air and Zuko could feel the cold through his robes. Prince Eigen came from a colder planet and what proved a comfortable room temperature for him gave Zuko goosebumps. Zuko had no idea what powered the box but compared to the technology needed for spaceflight that proved a small mystery.

"Not at all." Prince Eigen showed Zuko the tablet computer and held up the stylus. "I had begun a report to Homeworld but that can wait. What can I do for you?"

"Is that some kind of writing tablet?" Zuko examined the table which looked about the size of a letter sized sheet of paper and about as think as a stack of perhaps twenty sheets but had a finely detailed glowing color screen.

"Of a sort." Eigen placed it on the desk and turned to face Zuko.

"You wish to establish a consulate on our world." Zuko looked carefully at the little prince.

"You would have to agree to that." Prince Eigen said carefully. "I have barely learned how to catch my breath in the thin air of your world. I haven't given any thought to the future of the relations between our worlds."

"You have advanced beyond us and have machines I could not even imagine." Zuko tented his fingers. "If you wished, you could enforce your will on our world as the Fire Nation tried to impose its will on the world."

"Your homeland didn't succeed." Eigen knew Zuko intended to speak very frankly with him and gain some measure of the man. Eigen decided to play the same game with Zuko. "If all it took to win a way was technological prowess then the Fire Nation should have won the fight. I have heard past Fire Lords committed themselves to conquering the world, had the will to do it and had the machines. Fire Lord Sozin committed genocide and wiped out Aang's people and the Fire Nation didn't win."

"You have watched us for some time then?" Zuko said quietly as he rested his head on his left hand.

"Indeed." Eigen said frankly. "We even have reports of something we call 'bending' – a kind of telekinesis among some of your people."

"I did not know that your people knew of this." Zuko raised his head.

"Among our people we have a certain class of people who have psychic powers." Eigen said as if bending did not constitute a great mystery. "We have people who can read the thoughts and intentions of others with some training. A few people can see into the future or the past and report events. One very rare group can move objects from a distance – some can ignite objects, others can move them but we do not fully understand these powers."

"I see." Zuko leaned back in the chair and had begun to relax as Eigen began to talk.

"On my own world, I preside over a small northern nation called _Lestria_." Prince Eigen tapped his fingers on the desk. "I held a position of little importance but I have the ability to understand the intentions and thoughts of others. The King of our world sent me here because such a talent has endless uses."

"Can you read my thoughts?" Zuko asked and leaned forward.

"I could." Eigen straightened out his uniform. "But it takes concentration. Think of it as like listening to a single instrument in an orchestra – you need to put forward some effort to track the flutes."

"Could you pry state secrets out of my mind?" Zuko asked frankly. Zuko began to think of important and yet secret affairs of state which included secret meetings with King Bumi and others during Eigen's stay. He promptly suppressed them as best he could.

"I could not." Eigen smiled kindly. Eigen could do many things and yet had a strict command _not _to reveal the full extent of his powers and he paused to come up with a convincing lie. Eigen could not lie well due to his honest nature but he had prepared for this line of questioning. "You speak a language I do not yet know. I have to rely on my computer and software so while I could pick out impressions I can't pick out useful information. Even if we spoke the same language I don't know your world and have only a shallow understanding of your culture. I understand how my culture places people in castes and each caste has a style of dress, a certain color of uniform or clothing. If you saw an image of a crowd of people in the courtyard of my palace you would see a crowd in many different colored clothing but I would see it and tell instantly that the man in the orange robes was a merchant while those dressed in red and black like you belonged to the religious orders."

"I came to ask you to join me on a tour of the palace." Zuko could hear Prince Eigen panting because of the thin atmosphere. "If you feel up to it that is."

"I must admit the thin air of your world has taken a toll." Prince Eigen stood up slowly from the chair and smiled cheerfully and gestured in acceptance of the invitation. "But my physician told me my body would adjust."

* * *

Azula stood for a moment at the end of the hallway. She could see the guards at the door of the Prince's quarters but she doubted if the alien visitors could outdo her in the art of subterfuge. Fire Lord Zuko had thought she had gone with her mother to Ember Island and her mother thought she had remained at the palace in order to protect her fragile mental health. The Fire Nation guards watched as she strode up to them.

"You may not pass Princess." The taller of the two Fire Nation guards posted to protect the visitor said authoritatively.

"I see." Azula pondered the option of threatening the guard but knew this would not succeed.

"Can I ask that you let the Prince know I wish to visit him?" Azula asked as politely as she could.

"I cannot." The guard said.

"Please indulge me," Prince Eigen spoke as his guard opened the door, "I will receive a visit from this person."

She had not anticipated the skills Prince Eigen had with telepathy. He had known of a strange presence for some time and he became very curious as Azula approached the guards. He did not regard Azula as a woman since she gave him the impression she had the thought patterns of a man. She looked like a woman but this did not make an impression at first – that piece of information took a few seconds to sink in to his mind. His personal guard stood at the ready as Prince Eigen examined Azula.

"You have poisoned me." Azula hissed as she stood with her arms crossed and shivered. The small box sitting on the desk that pumped out blasts of cold air to keep the room at a bearable temperature for Eigen made Azula shiver. Azula felt like she had crossed into the northern latitudes of the Earth Kingdom in autumn.

"Indeed," Prince Eigen regarded Azula with mistrust as he faced her, "at least with our help you can think better."

Azula wore a harsh expression on her face. "For all the good that has done me. I could spend the rest of my life in an asylum and suffer from my own kind of torment and anguish or I could spend the rest of my life in this palace suffering with a clear mind."

"I warn you not to try anything violent!" Prince Eigen looked into Azula's eyes. "I can read your mind."

"I didn't come to do something unspeakable to you," Azula raised her eyebrows, "I came to discuss some matters with you."

"We do not allow women on our planet." The Prince motioned her forward. "Of course this is not my world so I must accept things as they are."

"Your planet must have a colder climate." Azula rubbed her arms with her hands and shivered. "I suppose I could learn to live with it."

"You came here to appeal to me for some kind of asylum." Prince Eigen looked at the amber eyed woman as she confidently spoke to him.

"I offer my services as a diplomat." Azula stood before Prince Eigen and examined his delicate face and his odd teal colored hair. She bowed slightly and delicately. "You will need one at some point."

"I regret to tell you that you are unqualified for the post." Prince Eigen held up his hand.

"Because I am a woman?" Azula poured herself a cup of tea from the pot on the desk.

"And a war criminal," Prince Eigen continued. "You may have regained your faculties but you still believe in your cause."

"When you arrived yesterday I watched you speak with my brother and the Avatar and you had to use a kind of machine." Azula sipped the tea. "Now you have no trouble understanding me without it."

"I have a brain implant that learns language for me." Prince Eigen pointed at his head. He had an implant that learned language but also allowed him to send messages and communicate with computers but the Princess did not have need to know that state secret. The tablet computers he had were easier to use but could go missing or break so Eigen had an implant in his brain to act as a computer and allow him to remain in touch with Homeworld even if his tablets failed. "I needed time to hear enough of your language for it to process and learn your language. Unnatural but necessary for diplomacy."

"If you have such powerful medical technology," Azula followed Prince Eigen around the room showing no concern for the poor man's level of discomfort. "why can't you modify me to suit your purposes?"

"Make you a man?" Prince Eigen sat on the desk chair.

"I think you ask me to give up far too much." Azula leaned forward. "I meant give me a change of mind with some kind of brain implant."

"Our people would never accept you." Prince Eigen scratched his head. "Even if we could change a _mind_, no operation could remove your past. You don't strike me as the polite diplomatic type. You would spy on our government, take bribes and do anything to gain the upper hand."

"Isn't that what diplomats do?" Azula cracked a smile. "You spied on us during and after the War."

"We prefer to use the term _conducting anthropology_." Prince Eigen smiled slightly. "I suppose you call it spying but that implies you have some secrets we wish to know."

"Why did you choose to contact Fire Lord Zuko and the Avatar first?" Azula looked at her nails.

"Your brother led the most technologically advanced civilization on the planet." Eigen explained. "Avatar Aang is the most important religious figure and the last Air Nomad. I had no role in making these decisions."

"I will vanish from history," Azula said quietly, "I sided with evil."

"Most people have no footnotes in history." Prince Eigen tapped the touch screen of his tablet computer as Azula watched on in interest.

"I almost became Fire Lord." Azula continued.

Prince Eigen shifted uneasily as he examine the tablet computer. " I knew that."

"I suppose you fear I might try to take over your world." Azula smirked. "Emperor Azula?"

"Our Emperor is kind only a figurehead." Eigen placed the tablet computer on the table and tented his fingers. "The Holy Durian Emperor doesn't rule as the Fire Lord rules. The Emperor basically keeps the throne warm and meetings of the Royal Committees dull. His name hints at a religious function but he doesn't function as a religious leader."

"A ceremonial monarch like the King of the Earth Kingdom." Azula said.

"With a generous pension plan." Eigen laughed.

* * *

Prince Eigen entered the throne room as the two guards posted to guard it opened the double doors. Zuko had not seen him without his guard but the stern looking man did not accompany him. Prince Eigen found Zuko pacing the large room and waited a moment, cleared his throat and tried to work out exactly what he should say. The throne room paid homage to the element of fire and a wall of orange flame separated the throne from the rest of the massive gray room. Fire Lord Zuko had taken the young Prince on a tour of the palace the previous day and explained much of the tormented history of the place. Eigen could not manage to make himself feel at home in the monstrous bowels of the palace. He had hoped he would learn to cope with the heat but discovered his people didn't sweat enough – Prince Eigen smelled very nice but hovered on the edge of heatstroke.

"I have to tell you that Princess Azula has remained in the palace and paid me a visit." Prince Eigen said quietly. "She wanted to serve as diplomat I believe."

"I had expected as much." Fire Lord Zuko leaned against a one of the dark stone pillars. "My sister could not resist a chance to see a real live alien."

"Or ask him to help her leave this place." Prince Eigen had begun to find breathing easier but he could not bear the heat or humidity for long and found walking any distance outside of the guest quarters exhausting.

"I thought you would take offense at seeing a woman." Zuko faced Prince Eigen and leaned against one of the stone pillars in the throne.

"I think my schooling has prepared me for this kind of thing. I didn't turn into a pillar of salt if you were worried." Prince Eigen said.

"She is a deeply unhappy person." Zuko watched as Prince Eigen paced the room and suppressed the urge to chuckle. He had not expected such a subtle wit from his young colleague.

"As long as you know." Prince Eigen said.

"How are you adjusting?" Zuko saw Prince Eigen suffering in the heat.

"I can breath easier." Prince Eigen said obligingly. "I still feel like I am being baked alive when I leave my room. I suppose the officials that planned my trip would have done better than to plan it for the middle of the summer."

"We suggested Kyoshi Island but it proved too remote. Ba Sing Se has less ferocious summers but we couldn't provide proper security. Omashu has a pleasant climate in the mountains but the air proved too thin for your people to breathe easily." Zuko said. "You might find travel easy but we still can only travel as fast as our best sea ships can carry us."

Eigen shook his head. "We crossed the distance between our worlds in only a little more time than it takes to sail to Kyoshi Island. Well here I am. I have a mission to meet with the Avatar and the young Fire Lord and discuss what kind of common future we have."

"As I understand it, without your help we have no future." Fire Lord Zuko watched the small prince pace the throne room. Eigen tried with much effort to look dignified but Zuko saw the inexperienced and naïve prince. This helped Zuko trust him.

"A comet will strike your planet in a little less than a century." Eigen said frankly. "We have known your world had life long before we had the means to visit it. When we began studying your people we found this world had a civilization in the midst of a horrible war and decided to leave you along. We changed our minds when the War ended after a hundred years."

"You felt pity on us poor backwards people?" Zuko raised his eyebrow.

"I wouldn't call you backwards." Prince Eigen said playfully. "We have our own history, our own tragedies and nearly destroyed ourselves. We didn't feel pity; we felt charity. We believe that our two worlds could forge a future based on trade and mutual gain. To let your world fall would deprive us of all of this."

* * *

Prince Eigen had two days to adjust to the heat, humidity and thin air of the Fire Nation and then the hard work began. Prince Eigen had a long meeting scheduled with Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko in the room used by Ozai as his war room. Prince Eigen had his guard bring the small table top air conditioner and his tablet computer in preparation for the long discussions ahead. Eigen walked quietly past the guards who opened the doors for him and his guard. Prince Eigen found Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang seated on dark red cushions on a platform at the back of the room. The palace staff had set out a cushion for Eigen and his guard. Eigen walked across the parquet floor that had a map of the world inset in exotic stained woods and took some time to examine it. The red wooden tokens once used to mark Fire Nation military positions in the Earth Kingdom had all vanished but Eigen knew what purpose the map had once served.

"Good morning." Avatar Aang stood and bowed politely in his most formal attire.

"Thank you." Eigen returned the bow as best he could. Eigen had mastered Chinese but the dictionaries of the two languages didn't quite match. His language based greetings on status and caste, not the time of day – as if someone said: 'Sir Eigen – your highness'.

Aang smiled lightly as he could see Eigen could not completely grasp the skill of bowing. Eigen and his guard took the cushions between Zuko and Aang and the guard placed the small box that blew cool air in front of Eigen and set it to blow enough cool air to keep them both comfortable and able to concentrate.

"With your indulgence." Eigen began as he touched the screen of the tablet computer. "I would like to show you the forecast for the orbit of Sozin's comet. I think this is important because we have determined the comet will likely collide with your planet in just under one of your centuries."

Eigen handed the tablet to Avatar Aang first.

"What am I looking at Eigen?" Aang held the sleek looking tablet in his hands.

"The image shows the track of Sozin's comet as it orbits. At the bottom is a time scale in your units of time." Eigen shifted uneasily. "If you watch the entire movie it will show our best prediction for the orbit of the comet and that it will likely impact your planet."

Aang watched the screen until the movie ended with a three dimensional rendering of a massive explosion in the Southern Ocean. Even for the Avatar it made a frightening spectacle as it blew a crater two hundred kilometers into the planet. Aang remained silent as he handed the tablet beck to Eigen who reset the device and passed it to Zuko. Zuko remained silent as he watched the movie play and remained silent for quite a few seconds after he handed the tablet computer back to Eigen.

"I had thought the end of the Great War would have brought an end to the threat of our destruction." Zuko said quietly as he looked down. "Are you certain?"

"Yes we are." Eigen sounded ashamed and placed the tablet computer behind him. "Simple celestial mechanics tells us this will happen."

"What can you do to help us?" Avatar Aang said seriously.

"We have the capability to nudge the comet into an orbit that does not cross the orbital plane of your planet." Prince Eigen breathed in gently. "If we did this, Sozin's comet would not return."

"And the Fire Nation would find itself at a disadvantage." Fire Lord Zuko explained further. "We would no longer have the ability to draw on the power of the comet."

"I know." Eigen seemed apologetic.

"I would like you to meet my father." Fire Lord Zuko said.

"What could I gain from meeting him?" Prince Eigen shook his head.

"You look like one of us," Zuko said as he looked down at the young Prince, " but you do not act like one of us. My father may be evil but in him beats the heart of our nation. You meet him and you will come to understand more about us."

"He represents the old ways." Fire Lord Zuko's face looked worried. "Some of our people might prefer to lose their lives than lose Sozin's comet. They fear losing the comet will weaken the nation and my father is one of these people."

Ozai had not seen his son for a week. Even in prison, he had a good idea what transpired in the land he once ruled. He had not anticipated his realm would make contact with an alien race but Fire Lord Zuko and the Avatar had begun the process of negotiating with them because Sozin's comet might fall into the planet on its return trip.

Those talks with Prince Eigen began today.

Ozai resented the meddling of the people called the Durians and feared the destruction of Fire Nation culture at the hands of these odd people. Ozai's mind had locked on the fact the Durians indulged in homosexuality and he did not approve of this.

Ozai had thought of hiring an assassin to kill Prince Eigen but feared the Durian reprisal. The Durians may be perverted, but they had great power even without bending. Even the best assassin could not hide his deed from the power of Durian science. Ozai realized that revenge was a universally understood concept and the danger was too great.

"Why has my brother come to visit me?" Ozai spoke as the guard let Uncle Iroh into his cell. "I thought you had a tea shop to manage."

Iroh remained silent as the guard closed the door with a clang.

"Have you become caught up in all this foolishness surrounding our alien visitors?" Fire Lord Ozai rose to his feet in his cell.

"I wanted to be here if my nephew and the Avatar needed my counsel." Uncle Iroh kept his eyes on Ozai as he paced inside his cell. He wore the green and light tan robes of a fine Earth Kingdom merchant which added to the visual offense Ozai felt. "I thought I would take the time to see if you have reformed – but I see no sign of contrition."

"My son has destroyed the Fire Nation." Ozai growled. "Better to die at the hands of Sozin's comet than to have these effete bastards trod on our soil."

"Many of the people of our world might disagree," Uncle Iroh replied softly, "and you do not have a role in these decisions."

Uncle Iroh and Ozai heard Fire Lord Zuko's voice in the hallway and the guard opened the metal door of the cell with a loud clang.

Uncle Iroh bowed politely as Fire Lord Zuko and Prince Eigen entered the room. Prince Eigen had never seen men with facial hair before his visit and it still troubled him as his culture viewed such a thing as uncultured and slovenly.

"This is the Prince I have heard so much about?" Ozai turned his back to the prince. "You will destroy our culture with your meddling!"

"Indeed." Prince Eigen found Ozai's mind filled with rage and hate. If he had the chance, Eigen sensed Ozai would have killed him on the spot. The hot, humid and dreary interior smelled of burning dust and Eigen had trouble imagining a more dreary place of imprisonment.

Ozai gave Prince Eigen a menacing glance to see if the little prince would flinch and felt disappointed when he did not.

"Is it true your people have watched us from afar?" He said.

"We knew of your world and studied it." Prince Eigen said politely. "When Fire Lord Sozin started the War and the Avatar vanished we decided it was best to leave your people alone. We thought you would do far less damage to your world if you didn't have access to our technology."

"And now?" Ozai turned away from the prince.

"A degree of sanity has overtaken your people," Eigen said, "or some of them."

"My son!" Ozai faced Zuko and bellowed. "What made you agree to this visit from that blue eyed oaf! I can see in his eyes contempt for all things Fire Nation and he looks like a frail child!"

"I came to contact your people and help them." Prince Eigen came as close to the bars of the cell as he dare. He could sense Ozai's thoughts and worried that if he dare come too close to the metal bars of the cell, Ozai would maul him. Eigen knew Ozai had called him out as a coward and Eigen determined to maintain self control: he could sense Ozai's thoughts but Ozai could not sense his. "Zuko said I needed to meet you to learn a lesson about fanatics."

"He enjoys his revenge." Ozai didn't as much speak to Eigen as growl at him. "He has me locked up in this prison cell. Better to kill me and have this torment end."

Prince Eigen felt a wave of dread flow across his small frame.

"You have plotted to kidnap me and kill me." Prince Eigen approached the bars of Ozai's cell.

"Many nobles wished you had not arrived." Ozai's amber eyes and dark sinister face filled Eigen's field of vision as the evil dictator loomed over him.

Zuko watched the look of dread fall over Eigen's face. "Eigen?"

"We have to hurry!" Eigen turned to Uncle Iroh and Fire Lord Zuko.

"We did do well to come and visit your father!" Eigen gasped, "your father has plans to overthrow you and has schemed to kidnap your mother and your wife."

"How do we stop them!" Uncle Iroh asked.

"I think it is too late!" Eigen turned away from Ozai.

Zuko banged on the door and yelled. "Guards!"

Eigen felt relief as the door clanged open when he pushed on it but he found no guards protecting it.

Ozai let out a roar and laughed in triumph as he pressed his foot on a stone and an opening appeared in the floor. He jumped into the gaping hole and vanished in a flash. The opening slid closed in almost and instant leaving Zuko, Eigen and Iroh standing in shock.

"_We_ have to go!" Eigen snapped out of the shock and pulled Zuko's arm.

The three of them rushed out the door of the cell, down the long circling stone passageway and out through the front entrance to Zuko's carriage. The ostrich horses had vanished but their harnesses sat on the ground in the dust of the stone road. Prince Eigen took a moment to catch his breath as his lungs burned. The lavish dark red carriage looked out of place alone in front of the prison. Zuko rushed to the front and saw a thin trickle of blood and looked up and saw the driver on his seat with a long crossbow bolt through his heart. The glass of the front window lay on the ground in fragments and Prince Eigen's guard lay on the red velvet seat with a bolt through his neck. The rich velvet seat had hidden most of the blood but a pool had formed on the wooden floor.

"Who could do such a thing!" Prince Eigen stared at the carnage that unfolded before his eyes. Uncle Iroh stood next to to the young prince as he held his long teal colored hair and walked around the carriage studying the scene. Zuko realized they remained in grave danger: the archers had taken two very accurate shots and might wish to kill Prince Eigen. Zuko motioned Prince Eigen and Uncle Iroh away from the front of the carriage.

"I'm sorry," Zuko whispered as he knelt behind the carriage seeking cover from the invisible bowman.

"Notice the prison guards have vanished?" Iroh spoke into Zuko's ear.

Prince Eigen knelt beside him between him and Uncle Iroh. He recited a short prayer for his guard in a melodic language and then seemed to snap to attention.

"I should have known better. My sister and my father plotted against me." Zuko whispered as he knelt behind the carriage and examined the surroundings for any hostile movement.

"Can you fly that machine of yours?" Iroh asked.

"I can fly it," Eigen said somewhat sadly, "but I can't promise I can leave it intact."

"What do you mean?" Zuko looked to Prince Eigen with a confused look. "We have no one who can fly it?"

"I have to set it to self destruct. If anyone else tampers with it; it will self destruct." Eigen knew the shuttle represented a wonder of engineering to the Fire Nation even if it had no weapons to aid Ozai but leaving it in his hands was a bad idea. As backwards as the Fire Nation was, it could gain an invaluable technological lead over other nations from a study of such a machine. The computer would only let those it recognized even activate a switch but he doubted Ozai's allies cared to go for a flight. They would seek to take it apart and try to understand what made it work. The shuttle would self destruct; magnesium strips in the hull would catch fire and slowly burn the shuttle to a useless hulk. Such a system would allow the curious to escape but preserve state secrets but Eigen knew it had never had a test and no technological system was foolproof.

"Someone approaches." Eigen whispered to Zuko and Iroh and pointed to the figure of Azula running along the basalt field that surrounded the prison as if running for her life.

They squatted down and sat against the the ornate carriage in silence. Zuko could hear soft steps and he slowly prepared himself for a fight.

"Princess Azula!" Zuko stood up with a start ready to do battle with her sister.

"Our father has left the prison with a squadron of guards," Azula took a moment to catch her breath, "I had to leave the palace."

"Why?" Zuko stared at her sister.

"He would kill me for my failure to defeat you." Azula said flatly. "They will kill you, Iroh and the prissy prince."

"Is the shuttle still working?" Eigen stood up before Azula.

"No." Azula said. "A little blasting gel and fire bending zeal put an end to that."

"And the Avatar?" Zuko said sadly.

"Hiding and waiting for us," Azula crossed her arms and enjoyed the feel of being in command. "He will meet us soon."

"Why help us?" Uncle Iroh eyed Azula with grave misgivings and made no attempt to hide his mistrust.

"I hate Zuko, I hate you but I hate my father more." Azula said.

Eigen felt too low to feel unhinged at the sight of a six legged flying thing with fur and a gray arrow on its head. Appa silently landed and Aang jumped down.

"We must escape!" Aang shouted to the group.

A green eyed small mammal flew around the heads of the group and chattered.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Fables of the Five Realms**

**Chapter 2: Long and Difficult Voyages**

Eigen glumly sat in Appa's saddle composing a report to send to the _Imperia_. Eigen loved the bright sunshine but on this day it revealed to him the kind of horrors he had hoped never to witness or know of except in the history books. The Fire Nation seemed to have descended into chaos. Eigen had seen a town on fire and platoons of soldiers fired upon them from the ground. Eigen could not tolerate flying at high altitude and exhibited altitude sickness. Aang flew Appa low over the Fire Nation and had to dodge soldiers using fire bending against them and it seemed to Eigen that the Fire Nation had descended into chaos. Whole villages burned and soldiers fought pitched battles and he could not make out who fought for Zuko and who fought for Ozai.

"When did you plan to destroy your shuttle?" Azula began to converse with the strange human who sat next to her in Appa's saddle.

"I sent out the order as we left the prison on Appa." Eigen said thinly.

"But the Fire Nation blew it up." Azula thinly smiled.

"Never take chances." Eigen felt uncomfortable this woman talked to him so casually.

"When will your people send for you?" Azula asked calmly.

"As soon as they track down my location." Eigen spoke glumly. "I have sent a report of the events here and the unfortunate events of today. I expect they will send a shuttle for me when we reach the Earth Kingdom."

"Will your people retaliate for the death of your guard?" Zuko asked kindly.

"We have the capacity to take some action against Ozai." Eigen sat with his back against the saddle. "I ordered them not to take any action."

"Why?" Azula sounded confused.

"Ozai has your mother and Lady Mai." Eigen stuttered and grasped his chest, "and will kill one or both of them if we did anything. He took hostages to use them as a bargaining tool."

Azula didn't hide her displeasure. "Don't your people have a magic death ray? Simply find him and press a button and cook his brains until they bubble out his ears?"

"No," Eigen said with some irritation, "don't mistake all our technology for magic. All our things are made by mere humans."

A flash and a bang deafened Eigen for a moment. He looked at the calm sea below and saw a large steel ship and a trail of fire bolts streaming up towards him at high speed. Zuko recognized it as a Fire Nation navy destroyer and knew it intended to shoot them out of the sky. Eigen felt Appa soar into the sky and he felt his headache grow. He had known of bending but the ability of such backward people to harness such basic power humbled him.

Azula saw a shadow cross her field of vision and then heard a deafening roar. Zuko heard it too and neither of them could turn their heads fast enough to track it. Zuko saw fire bolts rush by and prepared to deflect them but the roar nearly knocked him out of the saddle.

Aang saw the soldiers firing at them change their target and aim at something to their north and moving fast. Aang could make out a shuttle like Eigen's but metallic gray.

No one on the planet had ever seen a rail gun fire. The gun fired uranium hockey puck shaped disks using electrical fields to accelerate them to many times the speed of sound. The shuttle had two mounted on the front beneath the cockpit. They looked like a long artillery piece but could fire at an insane rate – over a hundred rounds a second. The impact of the disk did the damage and their great speed made them glow white hot as they passed through the air. A solid beam of yellow white light flashed for a second and the upper decks of the Fire Nation destroyer disintegrated. Another beam cut the ship in two and it began to sink. Fire Nation sailors deserted the ship in life rafts.

"Will they fire on us?" Aang looked uneasily at the remains of the Fire Nation destroyer.

Eigen peered over the edge of the saddle. "No - they came save our skins."

"Why did they sink our destroyer?" Azula seemed a little disturbed.

"It will put an end to any doubts your father has that our people are pushovers." Eigen felt relief as Aang descended into denser air.

* * *

The Avatar's home planet turned underneath the observation deck of the _Imperia_ as Eigen watched in sad contemplation of the events that had transpired. He knew the sight of the planet moving below him was an illusion: the _Imperia_ orbited the planet in an hour and a half and as Eigen watched the ship passed from Omashu to Ba Sing Se. This trip would take the Avatar days and yet the _Imperia_ took minutes. Eigen floated in the disorienting, comforting grip of weightless free-fall. He had chosen not to retreat to his quarters in the ship's habitation ring and made for the observation deck immediately after leaving the shuttle. The observation deck had a large trapezoidal window that gave the viewers panoramic views unobscured by the complex electronic instrumentation used by modern space craft. The instruments could tell Eigen the apogee of the orbit and the exact location of Ba Sing Se relative to the equator but could not convey to Eigen the reality of the Planet of the Four Nations.

He had failed.

He had not anticipated robustly enough the cruelty of such young civilizations and he had come as a naïve young Prince hoping to awe the Fire Nation with his cultural sophistication. He grabbed a plastic loop hung from a wall to steady himself as he watched the tan and green fields of Ba Sing Se slide by.

"I trust you have no choice but to put me up as a guest." Azula tapped Eigen's shoulder and looked pleased as Eigen let go of his the plastic strap and bounced off the soft white plastic walls.

"How did you - ?" Eigen stammered.

"You took some time to bid the Avatar and his companions farewell. The soldiers watched over you and all the while I stowed on board in the passenger compartment of the shuttle and hid in the cargo space underneath the seats." Azula had some kind of gift for remaining almost motionless as Eigen struggled to right himself. "I did not enjoy a smooth ride."

"Why?" Eigen said in utter confusion.

"My father has staged a coup with the help of the noble houses of the Fire Nation." Azula explained.

"I know that much!" Eigen spoke with some annoyance as he realized a woman had come on board _a royal _ship, "I had expected you to side with your father."

"I side with myself." Azula's eyes narrowed as she spoke.

"I have failed and will now have to explain how we came to have the Princess of the Fire Nation." Eigen sensed a calmness of a sort from the princess but in his own mind the consequences of the presence of the princess began to roll through his mind. Ozai or Zuko might claim he had kidnapped her. His own people would not accept her in their presence and she knew nothing of their culture and language.

"I can see the Eastern Coast of the Earth Kingdom and Chameleon Bay." Azula floated in mid air and steadied herself by hanging onto Eigen's long ponytail. "The Water Tribes blockaded our ships in that bay for more than two years. Hard to believe a tribe with wooden ships could cause our modern navy such a problem."

"You don't seemed overwhelmed by the fact you have stowed away on a spaceship orbiting four hundred kilometers over your world." Eigen fell the tugging on his hair and gripped the plastic loop harder. He lacked the physical strength of the tall Fire Nation Princess and the effort exhausted him.

"Why should I be?" Azula pressed her hands against the heavy leaded glass that kept out the vacuum of space. "I understand how orbits work. In the Royal Fire Nation Academy for Girls we learned about ballistics because as a warrior I had to learn archery. A crossbow bolt follows a curved path to land on target because it wants to fly forward but the Earth pulls it down."

Eigen pulled both of them across the observation deck plastic loop by plastic loop. He felt the girl now pulling his hair out by the roots had intruded on his world and the frustration in his voice came out as he spoke. "I know that. If you could build a big enough crossbow the bolt would fly forward and fall and follow the curve of the Earth."

Azula found herself in a dimly lit room with no sense of up or down. The room had padded white surfaces as well as blue metal surfaces but Azula made no sense of any of it and decided to follow Eigen since he had an idea where he was going. Every surface had transparent plastic loops for hand holds to keep unfortunate observers from bumping into each other or striking a metal surface and cracking their skulls. She felt dizzy and confused and the tone of her voice made that abundantly clear. "I don't confuse technology with magic because I don't believe in magic."

"I must take a break." Eigen pushed away from the wall toward the large door that lead to the ship. "I will explain your presence and hope we can cope with a woman on board."

Azula had a deep interest in the technology of the odd race from the distant moon of Bellaria and she had to suppress the feelings of amazement as she floated along side Eigen down the long brightly lit corridors of the ship. They covered exposed surfaces in soft pliable light beige plastic with the wiring and piping visible in the open so the technicians could access and repair things with less effort. She passed by a panel of blue lights with wires running out of it and delicate Emfeli writing next to the lights. She reluctantly admitted to herself that for an uncultured race of savages these people had accomplished amazing and remarkable things.

Eigen had spent the last months in the Imperia and ignored the pipes, wires and panels. Doors led off to small rooms full of computer banks or spare parts. He noticed the series of pops and then a deep rumble as the plasma rocket engines came to life and felt a subtle force push his body back. The _Imperia_ had begun to break orbit.

"Captain Varyen?" Eigen shouted into the air.

"Greetings and Condolences Dear Prince Eigen." Captain Varyen said. "We have begun to leave orbit."

"We have a problem." Eigen looked back at Azula. "The Princess of the Fire Nation stowed away on the shuttle and she has come on board."

A silence followed for a few moments.

"I will have to ask your indulgence – young Eigen." The voice of the captain resonated through the hall, "I need further guidance from Homeworld on this new development."

Eigen answered back apologetically, "I understand and I apologize: I had not anticipated this."

"Please be patient," Captain Varyen answered back. "I will require some time to receive a reply. In the meantime return to your quarters and keep her out of sight!"

"Please follow me." Eigen waved Azula forward and he still felt the princess holding his hair.

The rumble felt like the deep rumble of the engines of a Fire Nation destroyer cruising at full speed. Azula felt the acceleration fade as the rumble died down.

Eigen knew the _Imperia_ had broken orbit but this burn served only to place the ship in a long elliptical orbit. The second burn would last much longer but would not happen for six hours. As with space probes of old, the grand ship _Imperia_ used the gravity of planets to its advantage. The ship could gain the extra push as it flew past Eridan the second time and save much fuel by allowing Eridan to slingshot the ship back to Duria.

Eigen reached hand over hand using plastic loops to pull himself forward in the corridor toward the tram that carried the passengers and crew along the length of the massive ship. He did not find it easy as he had to adjust for the mass of the princess which made him hit the surfaces of the hallway with more force. The princess had a thin and petite figure that looked to Eigen much like his, but she towered over his meager frame and each time he struck the walls of the corridor it felt like he had taken a body check.

After a few moments he reached the sliding tall trapezoidal blue metal door that led to the tram. He grabbed the padded handrail beside the large door and pressed the button to call the tram. The door slid open with a metallic sound and he floated into the tram.

"Habitat Section Stop Please?" Eigen announced calmly. The doors of the tram slid closed and Eigen could see the door to the corridor slide closed slowly. Eigen sat down as the tram began to accelerate down the tube.

Azula heard a drizzle of sweet sounding words that sounded like _chfen__ó__kimf__á__linen tashl__í_. Azula let go of Eigen's braid and sat down holding herself to the seat. The tram had large windows that revealed a long metal tunnel with dim lighting. The lights began to move past her as she stared. She had doubts about stowing away on the alien shuttle and even more doubts about how she might cope with the alien culture as she had grown up completely immersed in the culture and propaganda of the Fire Nation. The tram slid to a stop and the doors slid open. Eigen stood up and Azula floated off her seat.

"Please do not grab my hair." Prince Eigen asked firmly.

Azula remained quiet.

They slid into a large padded room with another light blue trapezoidal metal door at the end and a small tunnel with a metal ladder inset into the wall. Eigen floated to the door at the end of the padded beige room and the door slid open. Eigen didn't explain anything to Azula but motioned her into what looked like an elevator car. He pressed a red button and the car began to move although Azula had no sense of up. The door opened to reveal a large room. Azula had trouble making sense of the sight before her. One part of the room had a floor that remained stationary while on the other end it moved slowly. Azula could see the moving end of the room curved up and around forming a ring. She grabbed Eigen's ponytail and they floated onto the moving section. Eigen said nothing as he grabbed a handrail next to another metal trapezoidal shaped door. Azula could see a large tunnel that led up out of the spinning room.

Eigen pressed a button and the door slid open revealing a room with six padded seats which had a comfortable light blue fabric. He glared at Azula and yet did not say a thing.

"Please let go of my hair." Eigen had a hint of irritation in his voice as he sat down. "Take a seat and don't say anything."

"Royal Level of the Habitat Section." Eigen said with military crispness.

Azula could not make sense of the layout of the ship but alien ships were exactly that – alien. Even the elevator's light gray walls and blue seats seemed alien. She watched the doors close and then began to feel the sense of weight return to her as the elevator began to move.

"I should explain this ship has a spinning section that has arms and on the end of each arm we have the main habitation sections of the ship. The spinning sections generate a kind of artificial gravity. You may find this disorienting at first." Eigen explained dryly as the elevator moved. "Since you have stowed away, you do not have training in space travel."

"I have had military experience and I can adapt." Azula lied as the sensations of _up_ and _down_ began to assert themselves.

"If you say so." Prince Eigen felt growing unease as he pondered how Princess Azula might adapt – if she had the chance.

* * *

"A stowaway you say?" Captain Varyen sat on a chair before Prince Eigen. If he found Azula an offense; he said nothing but he had regarded the matter as so urgent he met up with the prince when he arrived in the Habitat Section. "I have not heard from Homeworld but we have time."

Azula stood at the large window of Prince Eigen's office and watched her home planet move in and out of view as the Habitat Section rotated slowly in a circle through space. She thought it best to remain quiet and out of the way and listen to learn about her hosts. She had to admit she had problems putting the geometry of what she saw into perspective as the Moon moved in view and then rotated out of the way and revealed the terminator of the Earth with the Sun setting over the Fire Nation in a blaze that died out as the ship crossed into the night. The gray carpet in the room like a floor but the spinning section did not give her the sensation of her full weight and she had to take care to carefully gauge her movements lest she bash her head on the pipes and ducts that covered the ceiling.

The geometry of the ship began to make more sense. The ship had two Habitat Sections that looked like the two halves of a flattened hexagon with the three sides of each half at ten degrees to each other. The sections spun on long thick metal arms around the central spine of the ship. The scale far exceeded that of a Fire Nation naval vessel and she could not judge the length of the ship. The front had the bay for the shuttles as well as decks for observation, command and control. The rear thick bulbous section housed the engines that now pushed the ship further and further from her world every second.

Eigen sat behind a desk of blond wood with a heavy looking glass top in a blue velvet chair that molded to his body. Azula could see tension in the body of the young prince as he leaned forward toward the captain. She had not imagined seeing a royal do this but again their alien ways were alien.

"I have orders from Homeworld Prince Eigen." Captain Varyen said bluntly. "We had orders to return with you. This complicates matters gravely and quite frankly I have no idea what we can do. I have sent a request for further guidance but we have left orbit and we have practical problems to address."

"What practical problems?" Eigen asked severely.

"Our mission has fallen out of favor among the Imperial Court." Captain Varyen watched Azula with some suspicion. The mission had never proven popular among such a conservative body of men but Augustus II, Eigen's father had great influence and funded much of the mission with his own funds to avoid too many Imperial complications. The imperial Court had grown to despise him for this affront and Augustus II had the common sense to know his limits.

Eigen knew all of this but countered with the simplest course of action. "We could return her with on the shuttle."

"Not without permission," Captain Varyen sounded sympathetic but firm, "and given the death of officer Morian on that planet the court will almost certainly not approve."

An officer walked in, turned on his heels, bowed then cleared his throat. He had grown up as a member of Eigen's society and had grown accustomed to the benevolent totalitarianism of the ruling class. He had orders to say something, would wait for permission to speak and then leave.

"We have orders to return to Homeworld regardless of the status of our stowaway. He glanced uneasily at Princess Azula. "We have orders to make it comfortable as best we can and the Imperial Court will decide the situation."

"Very well." Captain Varyen said tersely. "They gave no reasons I assume."

"None at all." The officer said equally tersely.

"Dismissed." Captain Varyen said. The officer saluted, bowed and turned on his heals and left.

"I knew this mission had fallen out of favor in the Imperial Court." Prince Eigen placed his tablet computer on his desk and stood up. "I didn't think they wanted live specimens. I can only assume this fits into a scheme they have in mind. I wonder if she has become a pawn in some kind of a game in all of this?"

"She?" Captain Varyen watched Prince Eigen pace the room. "I warn you not to attach to many human characteristics to the princess. She came from a backward civilization and she is a woman. I trust I can leave it in your hands to keep her out of the way and confined to your quarters? The presence of a woman on a ship does not mean good luck young Eigen."

* * *

"You do not approve of your quarters?" Eigen stood at the large window and watched the view of the receding planet of Eridan in the window. Azula had gone to her quarters to rest and returned to bother Eigen an hour and a half later.

"My room lacks a window and my room has only enough room for the bed and a small table." Azula stood behind the young Prince. "Do you know you have an important dignitary as your guest?"

A low rumble began to move through the ship. Eigen knew the long slow burn of the plasma drive engines had begun to sling the ship to speed across the gap between Duria and Eridan in three weeks. Eridan would vanish into a small dot and all detail would fade as they sped away.

"On a spaceship we have to use our resources sparingly." Eigen did not turn to face the Princess. "Adapt."

Eigen held out his slender thumb and moved it to block the view of Eridan as they slid away. He had donethis looking back at Homeworld. He felt that he had truly left a planet when he could block out the image of its disc with his thumb. Eridan and its silver moon seemed to stand still against the cold, stark background of dim stars but Eigen knew millions of kilometers a day would separate the Princess from her world. The thumb test gave him some measure of this reality.

"What about food?" Azula asked brusquely.

Eigen said nothing but walked to his desk.

"The ceilings are low." Azula added. "If I don't watch out I will be forever bumping my head."

"Try this!" Eigen tossed her an aluminum foil package about the size of a deck of playing cards. She caught it and examined the strange braided writing and the image of a white flower with dark brown pistils and light green leaves on the label.

"What do you call this?" Azula turned the packet over in her hands.

"Biscuits – well they have an Emfeli name – call them biscuits." Eigen explained. "Your species has roughly the same biology as ours so you should tolerate the same kinds of food. If you begin erupting in fluid filled hives I have a doctor on board."

"Nice." Azula pulled open the package and pulled out one of the golden brown wafers. It had a fragrant and sweet smell. She examined it nervously as she looked at Eigen. She cautiously took a bite and while it had an extremely sweet and baked taste, it had a floral flavor which made sense given the picture on the label. She ate the whole thing after determining it had no ill effects.

"This ship feels cold." Azula shivered.

"You can make your room warmer." Eigen said in a tired voice. "You have voice control and you can issue commands in your language. Our engineers should have finished programming the computer to accept your voice and language. Tell it how warm you want your room in your language and it should keep you warm.

Eigen turned away and manned his desk.

"I have headaches." Azula continued her litany of complaints.

"I know." Eigen pressed a button on his tablet computer and spoke in a friendly manner. "Greetings Good Doctor Veranseli! I request to see you in my quarters in a quarter of an hour on a matter of great importance."

"Of course my prince." The voice of an elderly man replied.

Eigen placed the tablet computer back on his desk.

"You have to cope with our atmosphere which may make you sick." Eigen tented his fingers and rested his chin on them. "The headache comes from the high levels of carbon dioxide in our air and may slowly poison you. I wish you would have thought your actions through. I called the good doctor to examine you and perhaps we can come up with some kind of solution."

"And if you can't?" Azula stood over the finely crafted desk and briefly admired her reflection in the glass.

"I don't know." Eigen shrugged. "We can process the atmosphere in your room to something more tolerable but I suppose you would come to resent your confinement."

The doctor had examined Azula and given her a set of nose plugs that had a small computer and filter system based on nanoparticles that could be programmed to removed certain gases from the atmosphere. Used by Imperial Miners and others operating noxious environments, they fit up the nose and and looked invisible. The doctor had programmed them to eliminate some carbon dioxide from the air Azula breathed in then shoved the light gray transparent plastic plugs roughly up her noise. He told Eigen and Azula this would not provide a perfect solution since she could still breathe in enough ship air through her mouth to prove noxious. He left after advising Azula to report to Eigen any headaches and told Eigen how to program the nose plugs. Eigen had to face a task he had dreaded since discovering Azula on the ship.

"I must advise you on a few of the rules of the ship." Eigen cleared his throat a few moments after the doctor left.

"I feel stuffed up!" Azula complained.

"You have the power of fire based telekinesis." Eigen began as he leaned forward and made eye contact with Azula as if to urge her to take him seriously.

"Fire bending." Azula imperiously corrected the Prince. "I am considered the most powerful and gifted fire bender in the Fire Nation."

"Do not perform this bending on the ship." Eigen retorted. "You could kill us all if you started a fire and you will set off the fire suppression system. This won't harm you but will drop dry chemical powder on you and it takes some effort to remove from hair."

Azula glowered at Prince Eigen who sat calmly with his hands resting on his desk.

"You must not wander around the ship in plain view of the crew." Eigen continued. "The fact you are a woman would make the crew uncomfortable and reduce their effectiveness. As a military person you must know the necessity of morale and efficiency. I do not want you leaving my quarters unless accompanied by me. I have had the doors programmed to preclude your departure."

"What do you expect me to do to occupy my time?" Azula stood in front of Eigen's desk.

"I had not anticipated your arrival so you will have to make do." Eigen answered back with a hint of irritation. "We have musical entertainment and movies. I can get you a tablet computer and you can peruse our libraries and educate yourself about us and all of the advances we have made. You could easily spend all of your time here filling the gaps in your knowledge."

"What gaps?" Azula raised her eyebrow.

"You could learn the Emfeli language." Eigen leaned back and smiled with confidence. Azula knew Eigen had that certain conceit found in most royals and did nothing to hide his air of superiority. Azula also knew Eigen lacked her ambition and her drive – she realized he knew where he fit into his society and what role he had. This made Azula nervous since it struck her that his overseers had a persuasive means to keep him in line. She bore the scars of her past but Eigen seemed happy and at ease with his world – in Azula's mind this meant his minders had more covert methods for hammering him into place.

"I learned your language in three weeks. You wouldn't let an inferior dwarf beat you at such a task." Eigen smiled wryly.

* * *

Eigen sat in the ship botanical garden with his tablet computer working on reports to Homeworld. The botanical garden of the_ Imperia _served as a park and a living oasis in cold, dead and dark space. It provided life and ample light on a spartan spaceship. Eigen sat on a semicircular bench made of a blue stained wood in what the crew called the rotunda. It consisted of grass covered circle with metal paths that formed a kind of Celtic Cross with blue wood benches and tables. The botanical gardens took up half of Eigen's side of the habitation ring and consisted of a large square room the size of a large department store and formed a covered space thirty meters high and painted white. The garden had labs and levels that provided different climes giving it a look like a five story shopping mall. Eigen knew the biologists had hoped to obtain and cultivate from Eridan but that had not come to pass. A number of small animals and birds from Duria called the garden home and Eigen found their company soothing as they made their way over his head in the unseen reaches of a spruce forest.

He had his feet up on the low wooden table and allowed himself to relax. Two days had passed and he regretted meeting Azula. He regretted giving her the challenge of learning his language – she had great intelligence and ambition and sought to prove herself. Prince Eigen had learned Emfeli as a native speaker and while he knew that it had a grammar that relied very heavily on word endings; he had not prepared himself for the kinds of questions a native Chinese speaker would raise. Fire Nation Chinese used one form of the noun for singular, plural and whatever role the tree had in the sentence. Emfeli fussed over details and had forms for singular, dual and plural as well as the eight roles nouns had in a sentence. Azula had a computer to help her but they had little experience teaching a Chinese ispeaker their language. Azula asked questions about the word '_what_' and why_ chf__é__n _and _chf__á__t_ both meant _what_. He had to explain one asked the identity of the topic, the other the object and drew a blank stare from Azula.

"I can count to ten – án, dau, trys, cheduir, chink, tsésh, simtázn, akht, nen dazn." Azula walked past Eigen with her arms swinging like a schoolgirl taking a stroll.

"How!" Eigen stood up. "I set the doors so they wouldn't open for you."

"I followed you when you left and stuck my hand in the door." Azula raised her right hand. "It slid shut but didn't crush my hand. I waited for a moment and the door opened and I strolled out."

"Indeed." Eigen growled. "Did anyone see you?"

"I know the art of stealth." Azula looked up at the roof of the huge room. She had expected a technologically advanced civilization to have more graceful aesthetics but the roof had standard steel trusses spanning it. Huge lights with daisy petal shaped mirrors hung from the ceiling. They distributed a natural looking pinkish light on the ground.

"I will lose my head for you." Eigen said desperately. "I can see the talk around the palace – the young prince failed in his mission and brought back a rouge princess. I will not keep my head."

"Really?" Azula said casually.

"No," Eigen replied, "I will keep my head but they may remove other parts of my body I have grown attached to."

"A whole race of men." Azula said as she sat down and put her feet up on the table.

"You have the most irritating mix of cunning and heathen disrespect for our ways." Eigen gritted his teeth.

"I suppose your father could build you to be the perfect prince and do his bidding," Azula replied to Eigen by sounding nearly as irritated, "a perfect young prince who never falls out of line and does his duty!"

"We call it acting civilized," Eigen decided to end this conversation, "I have no desire to discuss my past with you. You grew up knowing the importance of decorum so I ask you remember those lessons."

"You have a past?" Azula slyly asked.

"We do not share information freely." Eigen sounded defeated.

"Yet you can read my mind," Azula growled, " but I can't read yours! This is not fair!"

"I have nothing on my mind," Eigen said calmly, "I came here to get away from you. It is hard enough to have to share my quarters with a woman."

"I barely qualify." Azula spoke sadly.

"Why did you stow away on our shuttle? You seem so unhappy here." Eigen cracked his shoulders.

"I hate being a woman," Azula picked at her vest, "Who am I kidding? I barely qualify. When I was in the asylum my brother had the good doctors spay me."

"I am not enjoying this conversation." Eigen looked shocked.

"I have no life on my home world," Azula answered back, "I needed to escape my past."

"I have had the honor of sharing my quarters with you for the last two days." Eigen began diplomatically enough. "I must have really angered God to deserve that punishment."

"At least you have a sense of humor." Azula said as she watched a group of crows fuss over their pecking order in the top of a tree.

"God has the sense of humor." Eigen tapped his tablet computer. "You break things and complain. I have some knowledge of the biological role of the female in mammals but does the bitching serve some kind of function? You have complained about the hardships you have had to endure which seems to amount to the sad fact our food tastes a bit off to your refined taste buds."

"You call the crap you eat 'food'? This is a new use of that word!" Azula crossed her arms. "I grew up believing gay men could cook. The food on this ship has shattered that myth completely."

"You don't have scurvy." Eigen sighed and handed off the tablet computer to Azula. "Civil unrest has swamped the Fire Nation. One faction supports Fire Lord Zuko and the Avatar. The other faction supports your father against the Avatar."

"Which side set the Ministry of Finance buildings on fire?" Azula examined the streaming video from the satellite Eigen's people had in orbit. "Ahh - We have a good old fashioned civil war."

* * *

"Do you ever sleep?" Azula found Prince Eigen listening to music that emanated from a small silver box sitting on the floor. Azula had expected great sound but the box sounded tinny and hollow. Eigen sat under a lamp in a large blue velvet chair with his tablet computer. Azula had spent two weeks with the odd teal haired elvish boy and found him in possession of a great intellect as well as no personality but he proved far easier to talk to than any other guy she had met.

"I do not wish to dream." Prince Eigen looked up. "I do not need much sleep."

"I noticed the doors no longer bar my entry." Azula stood before Eigen in her bright red night gown.

"I do not wish to mistreat a guest and you have kept out of the crew's way." Eigen handed the tablet computer to Azula. "The Avatar has ended the civil war in the Fire Nation."

"I knew he would." Azula looked at the delicate Emfeli script that filled the window of the tablet computer. "My father died."

"I know;" Prince Eigen sighed, "I had hoped your study of Emfeli had not progressed so far that you could read those words but as in the past - I vastly underestimated your intelligence. Those nobles who supported your father murdered him when it became clear the Avatar would return Fire Lord Zuko to the throne. We don't have all the information at this time."

"Very well." Azula handed the computer back to Eigen and sat on the floor with her arms around her legs. Eigen could sense both resentment and a great sadness from Azula but remained quiet.

"He had spent the last years of his life in prison and quite frankly he had died when he lost his bending." Azula fidgeted. "I somehow never expected to hear of his death."

"We arrive at Homeworld in a week." Eigen said dutifully. "You have not discussed your plans at any length. You had expressed interest in serving as a kind of ambassador between our two worlds."

"Would Fire Lord Zuko approve?" Azula asked carefully.

"Does it matter?" Eigen sounded tired and distant, "you don't listen to men as a rule. You made up your mind to stow away on our shuttle and we have to deal with the situation."

"Fire Lord Zuko must know I have gone missing." Azula looked out at the slowly spinning background of stars. She had seen this view many times over several weeks but it seemed so extraordinary to her. A ship a long as a city with sections that slowly spun to emulate gravity and make it easier on the passengers. She understood the concept and yet that hardly mattered when she witnessed it in operation.

"We still do not have reliable communication," Eigen said quietly. "We have tried to inform both him and the Avatar we have you on board our ship. We have received no reply from our agents and so we wait."

* * *

Azula woke the next day up to find Prince Eigen sitting behind his vast desk with music softly playing in the background as he dealt with an endless series of reports. He never told Azula about such matters but he did try his best to make her comfortable – this kept her from annoying him too much and also kept her out of the way of the crew as they conducted their work. The Imperia offered the kinds of cultured entertainment citizens of the Empire enjoyed: boring music, tasteless food and the odd walk in the botanical garden.

"I need to ask a favor." Azula said deferentially.

"You need a favor from me?" Eigen raised his eyebrow. "You have spent the last two weeks making me long for death and now you need a favor?"

"Do you have any means to contact my brother Zuko?" Azula sounded genuinely meek as she continued, "I wish to know how my father died and how my homeland has fared during this crisis."

"We have tried but the transmissions have fallen on dead ears." Eigen put down his tablet computer and spoke in his always impeccable Chinese. "The latest political crises in your land has sent our operatives to ground. I have asked that one of our operatives to contact the Avatar and the Fire Lord but it may take days or weeks to receive a report."

"When will you return to my home planet?" Azula asked carefully.

"Our people have a grave aversion to risks." Eigen shrugged slightly, "I took this trip at great risk to my reputation and it failed. I had convinced the Imperial Court with the help of my father that contact with your people would benefit both our worlds."

"And that means?" Azula turned away briefly as if to hide her feelings of despair, "I may not see my home for many years?"

"If ever." Eigen answered.

Azula stood silent and examined the odd man for a moment then turned away again. She had wished to leave and now many hundreds of millions of kilometers from her world, she suddenly came to realize she had become the first person of her race to leave the planet. She had not bargained on the isolation that would bring. Each second, each minute the distance between her world and the future grew at unbelievable speeds.

"Such is my choice." Azula wiped her eyes. "I have made my choice so I have no cause for regrets."

"Indeed." Eigen could sense the great sadness that washed over the princess standing in front of his desk but he had no idea what to say. Prince Eigen had a mind as much a product of engineering as evolution and behind his blue eyes lay a mind that could sense the thoughts and emotions of others but the machine did not always fully understand their feelings.

* * *

Azula stared out of Eigen's office window. Azula could not have imagined a more alien place as she stared out from the window of the docked spaceship _Imperia_. Bellaria hung in the sky as a huge globe of tan, white, blue and orange bands and a silver set of rings that shone and glittered in the Sun. She could see the space station they would transfer to. It orbited five hundred kilometers above Duria – a light blue spinning torus. The space station had the name _K__é__fel_ for a reason Azula could not yet divine. Azula watched the station spinning as the Imperia orbited along side. She could see the station spin, but only the sight of land masses on Duria moving below them gave her any clue they were moving at orbital velocity. She would not miss the mental gymnastics she had to perform looking out of the windows of the spinning sections of the _Imperia_.

Duria looked so different from her world. A glacier the size of the Earth Kingdom covered the northern pole and grim, white storms covered the southern pole. Azula watched lightning from these southern storms flash blue white as the Imperia circled the night side of the planet. Duria looked cold and turbulent. Azula could see the sunny, green lands of the equator covered with forest and could see the cities whose names she could barely pronounce in Emfeli. Eigen had told her that while he lived in Lestria; they would visit the King of Oiropa in the grand city of Jelaliain order to pay their respects. The night side of Duria showed the bright lights of cities, roads and countless inhabitants. She saw vast snow covered ranges with high and extreme peaks she had never seen on her home. She watched a huge cloud she realized was the ash plume of a massive volcano that had erupted below the northern glacier. She felt depressed and fearful for the planet she saw looked cold, violent and lonely and alien.

Eigen sat at his desk with his fingers dancing over his tablet computer. He had work to do before they departed and that included copying many files off the ship computer that included detailed notes and his diary. He had to reply to many messages and prepare to have his belongings send to his home. He did not notice Azula staring down at Duria as it came into view.

"Can you show me the city of Jelalia?" Azula pointed delicately at the planet as it spun back into view.

"It lies about thirty degrees north of the equator in the middle of the Great Eastern Sea." Eigen looked up from the tablet computer. "I think its beneath that large storm system you can see in the upper right of the window. I hope we will have better weather when we arrive."

"I have never seen such a huge volcano!" Azula showed admiration for the huge cloud of ash blasted into the rim of space by the great volcano.

"_The Cauldron of Futra,_" Eigen answered without looking up, "actually four volcanoes in a crater about a hundred kilometers wide. It has erupted constantly through history although it has experienced a burst of activity in recent years."

"You call Augustus your father," Azula asked softly, "but how can that be?"

"I came from his bloodlines but your people have children we build our children so we have a very different relationship." Eigen said without volunteering any information about his own feelings. Eigen picked up his tablet computer and tucked it under his arm. "I have some good news. Since the good doctor verified you do not have the ability to have children, my father will accept you as a guest in his household."

The _Imperia_ had to perform some delicate maneuvers before docking with the space station and allowing the crew to disembark. The rotating ring spun around a center section that allowed large space ships to dock without having to match the rotation of the torus. The captain had ordered the crew to secure and stow everything loose on board the ship and then stopped the rotation of the habitat ring prior to docking. Azula watched Eigen float off the desk chair as the Habitat Sections stopped spinning.

During the Great War Azula had commanded a Fire Nation destroyer but she understood the basics of how a ship functioned. She had no idea that parking a ship a kilometer long involved a slow and delicate touch. She could watch her crew perform the tasks she set before them but the crew of the _Imperia_ did their jobs out of sight.

"What now?" Azula hated asking Prince Eigen that question.

"We wait until we have docked." Eigen replied. Azula possessed intelligence but she lacked familiarity with two centuries of advances and much of the time Eigen had to_ simplify _his explanations which irritated Azula.

A loud metallic bang and a sound that reminded Azula of the sound of metal dental tools scraping her teeth sounded through the ship. A series of bangs followed and then silence.

"We have docked the with Royal Imperial Space Station _Kefel_." Captain Varyen announced calmly. "Will Prince Eigen and his guest please make their way to the observation deck and prepare to disembark?"

* * *

Azula stared out of the window of the Royal Suite at the Hotel Kefel. The Universe have not ceased to spin since the large ring of the space station spun albeit at a slower rate that let Azula see more detail of the planet as it spun by the window. Azula had to admit that the Durians built on a massive scale. The torus of the space station had a diameter of two kilometers and had all the resources to sustain thousands of people in comfort even a Fire Nation Royal could not demand. On her way to the special suite set aside for Prince Eigen and his guest she had seen the kilometer long _Imperia_ dwarfed by the massive central section of the space station. It didn't spin which made handling cargo and supplies much easier and then she passed down one of the four spokes into the central torus. She understood scale on geological terms but the torus of the space station had nothing to give it scale. She had passed gardens lit by titling mirrors that let the tomatoes and other plants drink in the sunshine. She had seen a vast open mall with hundreds of shops lit by gaudy neon displays and Eigen had told her she had not seen the smallest fraction of the whole station.

"Up and down are just things that happen to other people?" Azula said as she struggled for sarcasm. She had grown to believe in the technological superiority of the Fire Nation but in spite of the fact the Durians had no culture and no sense of honor; they had achieved great things in spite of their limitations.

"You would find this easier to take if you didn't stare endlessly out of that window." Eigen said.

"I must admit these quarters have more room and better suit royalty than the small rat holes on the _Imperia_." Azula found the suite much too light and airy for her liking. She liked the cool bluish indirect white light the Durians preferred for interior lighting but not the manner in which they took such joy in Water Tribe themes. The Durians liked white, tan or light blue wood and used it to accent everything. The main room paid homage to the Royals with an intricate parquet floor made of tan, white, gray and blue pieces of wood. Dolphins formed the outer boundary while an abstract pattern of waves formed the delicate center mosaic. The walls lacked the plastic padding and instead had ornate light blue and white wallpaper with stencils of orca forming the upper and lower boundary. Azula had seen the dolphin and orca on the Imperia and she knew the animal had some great cultural significance to Prince Eigen's people. A long curved desk made of a strange glass that held a white inner light formed an ovoid in front of the window but the seat rose out of the floor when she walked behind it. The seat had a high back and the gray material covering felt like leather when Azula passed her hand over it.

"You must really like dolphins." Azula could see the glowing white outline of a dolphin in the strange inner light of the glass. She could not take her eyes from them since they did not look etched but had depth and it moved as if she were seeing it in real life through perfectly clear water.

"The Gods appeared to our ancestors as a male and female dolphin and taught them how to wrest a living from the cold seas of our world," Prince Eigen said proudly. "and we call the dolphin sarígazet or the wise ones. We regard them as sacred and bringers of good fortune."

"I didn't ask you for a sermon." Azula sat on the large chair, "You believe that fairy story?"

"If we had believed it – we would have spared ourselves much suffering." Prince Eigen answered back.

"How does this desk work?" Azula tapped the dolphin in the glass.

"We call it a hologram." Prince Eigen answered.

Azula went to bed that night and slept for the first time in weeks in a comfortable large bed with a huge window that gave her a view of space. Bellaria moved in the distance and then she saw the Sun pass by her window and then the planet of Duria. Eigen had explained to her how to order the metal blinds to close and she gave the command to shut them. She lay in her bed under the luxurious blue linens and had much on her mind.

* * *

Zuko knew Azula had stolen away with Prince Eigen. She had vanished utterly but this proved the least of his concerns given the narrow victory in the recent civil war. In spite of this, Zuko worried about his sister as did his mother Lady Ursa. He had her he would spare no effort to unite the family in spite of the vast challenge. Ozai had the Durian's communication equipment utterly smashed and burned. Ozai's circle of supporters had done exactly the same to him. Zuko had no means to ask Prince Eigen about the fate of his sister and assure her safe return.

Mai found him sitting on the throne leafing through a document.

"Do you ever plan on sleeping?" Mai walked out from the side door dressed in a dark crimson kimono with delicate silver trim which seemed to match her pale complexion. She noticed the heavy guard and that Zuko had gone to great lengths to increase the height of the wall of fire that separated the stage for the throne from the rest of the throne room. He had grown paranoid and obsessed in recent days and she worried about his mental health.

"The best engineers in the world prepared this report in response to Prince Eigen's visit, "Zuko showed a purple soft covered book to Mai which bore the title '_The General Theory of Wireless Communications_'. "I have understood nothing but the fact we have no means to duplicate the Durian technology and communicate with them in any meaningful way. My father destroyed the Durian equipment so we don't even have anything to guide our own efforts."

"I grew to resent your sister," Mai's delicate face took on a dour look, "but in the realm of science, she had a real gift for making sense of things."

"I sent a report to Sokka of the Water Tribe." Zuko looked at the book and found himself floundering on a page that went into the principles of the heterodyne and superheterodyne circuits. "I hope he might find a way to extract information from the mass of dense equations and strange diagrams. I ordered the Mechanist and other experts to prepare this report after the Durians contacted us but I can tell they didn't write it for me."

"As I recall, they couldn't make sense of the Durian machinery anyhow." Mai patted Zuko's shoulder softly. "The book you have amounts to a best guess about how _wireless _might work. Come on! You need rest. Your sister is a gifted survivor and if you had vanished I don't think she would worry herself into exhaustion about your fate."

i


	3. Chapter 3

**The Fables of the Five Realms**

**Chapter 3: Exile to the Promised Land**

Azula felt rested and pressed the buttons to open the shutters on her bedroom window. She stared out her bedroom window as the _Kefel_ spun her around giving her a view of the local space in a complete panorama. She could see the planet of Duria seething below her and the serene Bellaria with its polished rings glinting brightly in the Sun. She could see a vaster space station orbiting in the distance with its huge rings turning slowly; that station was the shipyard for the Empire, where the Durian Empire built their vast space craft and sent them into the void. The space station lived in a busy neighborhood and shuttles left for the planet every forty five minutes on a fixed schedule. The station acted as both a city outpost in space and a transit hub. The torus spun but the center hub – a long tubular structure painted a dark gray – remained stationary. The_ Imperia _and other large vessels docked at one end and Azula could see a nest of robotic cranes used to offload cargo. Shuttles and smaller craft docked in bays at the other end. The_ Kefel _acted like a passenger terminal in space that gave the Empire a means of accessing space without having to overcome the gravitational pull of their planet.

She pulled her blue night robe closed and tied it shut. She had decided to wear the same clothing as the locals because it had a nicer feel and kept her warm in spite of the lower room temperatures these people considered normal. This robe felt soft and yet the fabric seemed to hold in the heat of her body. She picked at the delicate silver embroidery at the dolphin shaped clasp on her collar. She had found herself many millions of kilometers away from the home she knew all her life, had plugs in her nose to help her breathe and yet this now seemed routine.

She emerged from her room after dressing for the day to find Eigen dressed and at the large desk. He said nothing as she approached – a trait she had grown accustomed to. She knew Eigen sensed her in his own way and did not wish to say anything redundant as a greeting.

Azula stood over the desk and eyed Eigen, "do we leave today?" Azula asked although Eigen showed no sign of having noticed her.

"Not today." Eigen placed a tablet computer on the desk between the two of them. "The _Imperial Court _wishes more time to decide if you should have the privilege to set your foot on our planet. The good doctor has given you all the vaccinations against our diseases and verified you have no communicable diseases but that didn't satisfy the _Imperial Court_. They do not wish to have a woman set foot on Homeworld but they are undecided as to whether you qualify."

"How do they define a female?" Azula asked seriously, "I have the anatomy but am I the same species?"

Eigen knew the answer to that question but decided to deflect it because such things made him feel awkward. "I had expected you to do something cruel and unexpected to me like pull on my braid for that last line given that you dislike sarcasm so much." Eigen felt relief he had not insulted Azula given her daunting reputation for inflicting petty torments. Eigen knew the Durians had done a great deal of engineering on the genetic level. He had the same number of chromosomes as Azula and some of his species had the same _X_ chromosome as her but no rights to reproduce.

"You have a sense of humor." Azula said sarcastically as she placed her hand on the clear desktop and drummed her fingers.

"I don't enjoy talking about this," Eigen said with a distant and tired voice and rubbed his forehead to stem a headache that threatened to settle there. He knew Azula would leave hand prints on the perfectly clear top of the desk and this irritated him. He had to deal with questions about his reputation in the _Imperial Court_ and this greatly troubled him but he decided to remain calm since losing his temper wouldn't help him in either case.

"What will happen to me if they don't allow me to land on your Homeworld?" Azula leaned in closer to Eigen and enjoyed the sense she made him uneasy."

Eigen moved back in his chair subconsciously as he tried to keep his distance, "do you have any background in mining? The_ Imperial Court_ will send me to manage a mining colony of some sort on the sort of remote moon or asteroid cold enough to liquify air."

"What will happen to _me_!" Azula asked desperately.

"You will have some sort of unimportant position on the same remote planet," Eigen said with no hint of making a joke, "and they will tell you to press a big red button when a needle or a gauge goes above a certain point. You will have no clue what the red button or the gauge does but you will have this job for life but no doubt will long for death long before that."

Azula leaned back and crossed her arms in thoughtful repose, "Oh..." The Fire Nation had sent many undesirable people to some remote location to dig up something poisonous or cancerous out of the ground. A commander who failed in war ended up in such places supervising Earth Kingdom prisoners as he cursed his own grim life.

* * *

The Imperial City of Jelalia stood in the middle of the ocean on a huge round platform twenty kilometers across with eight petal shaped protrusions. This design did not arise by mistake but as a means of providing the vast area needed to support the Imperial Government, house the functionaries and separate the castes. Jelalia rose out of the sea half a kilometer on large pillars that descended five kilometers below the ocean with twelve hundred or more anchors the size of the Fire Nation Palace holding it in place. The City floated in the deep ocean like a ship anchored to the seabed but even this had come about as a deliberate decision – they feared earthquakes and tsunamis and so a floating city proved much more survivable than one spiked to the seabed.

The Imperial Palace was called _The White Palace_ for the color of the white marble used in covering the exterior shone a bright white in the sunlight and stood as the tallest structure on their world. The floors took effort to count and stood out in the day as rows of darkened glass between bright marble and at night as stacked slabs of light separated by dark bands. It made no attempt to look gentle and intimidating. _The White Palace_ sat in the Imperial City of Jelalia and dominated it; the two main towers stood at more than five hundred meters tall and four towers with the Imperial Ministries stood at three hundred meters.

Each tower had a huge circular room called the _Imperium_ at the very top of the two tallest towers open to the sky. Each one could function to house the _Imperial Court_ on its own – the paranoid members of the _Imperial Court _demanded two such faculties for redundancy. The rooms were identical in every respect and the one used for the meetings was revealed only to those attending. The Imperium as the Durians called it had an intricate stained glass roof – open to the heavens. An intricate petal pattern of ironwork created a rosette and inside the rosette a stain glass window that depicted the important stories and myths of the Empire. A blue marble desk polished to a fine shine rose out of a floor of polished white marble and formed an open circle ringed with chairs upholstered with the lushest sealskin.

A holdout from the Imperial distant past; the guards of the Imperium – both chambers – wore blue tunics, black vests and steel armor breastplates. They had a longsword and out of respect for the tradition ; no modern weapons. In keeping with the same tradition each Imperium had exactly eighty guards on duty on each shift.

The Imperial Court didn't have the need for such security but indulged in patriotic ritual in every stage of their infrequent meetings. Like the Vatican; they held lavish rituals even in secret. Prince Eigen knew little of their ritual as he had no position in the Imperium and likely never would.

Two guards opened the massive blue doors with gold painted details and knelt as the members of the Imperial Court in their dark blue robes fringed with silver trim with hoods drawn over their heads walked into the room in single file. They moved as if guided by a hidden dance in lock step with a silent death march. In the white marble of the floor a mosaic of the rarest blue marble made a ring around the room. Small dolphins in white formed a delicate double helix within the blue mosaic ring. The single line split into two at the ring, half the Imperial court walked clockwise, the other half walked counter – clockwise. None of them stepped on the dolphins embedded in the ring. Each one stopped at the same time before the chair assigned to them and sat down and pulled the hood down off their heads save one man who remained hooded and standing at the farthest end of the room.

"We are exactly thirty." The man standing announced. The Durian architects had made the huge room acoustically perfect so a voice would carry to any other point in the chamber.

In turn, each robed member of the court spoke his name and his title. Unlike a parliament, the Imperial Court did not represent everyone and made no pretense at being democratic. Each member had proven loyalty to the Empire and proven ability. The _Imperial Court_ formed the true source of power in the Empire in a manner even the Avatar, the Fire Lords or Azula could ever understand. The _Imperial Court_ made Duria and made decisions beyond life and death those in positions of power from the Planet of the Four Realms could never fathom. They made decisions about the fitness of members of their society to survive and kept their race pure and healthy. They upheld the definition of what it meant to be fit and genetically pure. In the darker past, they had conducted genocide on a vast scale. When religion refused to die out in the face of education; they tested believers for genetic traits. The Imperial Court ordered all believers executed and those with the traits of the believers sterilized as an act of mercy. So said the history; but like the Fire Lord and his nation, the Imperial Court lied about history: they had murdered everyone believers and non believers.

* * *

Sokka had made observations from a home built telescope he had installed in a log hut on Kyoshi Island. Kyoshi Island had lousy conditions for observational astronomy since it lay far in the Southern Hemisphere of the Planet of Four Nations and had a damp and cloudy climate. In spite of the limitations of his location; Sokka had spied two satellites in orbit around the planet. He named them _The Eyes of the Durians_. They orbited in polar orbits: one orbited only a few hundred kilometers over the planet making tight loops around the planet in an hour and a half while the second orbited much further away – at least ten thousand kilometers and took at least half a day.

Suki walked into the hut on the top of the hill and brushed off the rain from the fine blue Water Tribe fur coat Katara had made as a gift. She had a small oil lantern but she knew the area around her village and could find her way around by rote. She had no trouble finding her fiance since he had become obsessed with astronomy and satellites and spent his spare time in the hut.

She placed her arms around Sokka's neck and kissed his cheek. "You have worked on this for weeks and I worry about your obsessions getting the better of you."

"At least I have a door on the hole in the roof." Sokka pointed up to the crude wooden shutters that slid open to allow his telescope to peer out, "we don't have water leaking in the ceiling on my gear when it rains."

Suki stood at the ready when she heard a knock on the door.

"Relax," Sokka spoke with his characteristic easy going calmness as he turned the latch, "probably someone from the village."

"Not from the village," a man in a roughly stitched oilskin brown trench coat answered in a severe voice. He lifted up the hood and Sokka saw something oddly familiar in the man's delicate features and slightly overly saturated green of his eyes. "I came to find Sokka of the Water Tribe. The pub owner told me he could be found here. So I came here."

"Of course," Sokka said in a friendly voice, "yes! indeed I am Sokka! Come in if you don't mind."

The man entered the hut, shut the door and then bowed. "I came to talk to you about your questions. I am _Istefar of The Durian Empire_ at your service."

"I met Prince Eigen." Sokka stumbled for words.

"I know," Istefar said. "We had wished to contact your people but the recent civil war in the Fire Nation ruined all our efforts in that direction and Eigen's mission has become a political liability. The Empire has a small number of operatives studying your planet in order to better understand your world."

"I thought your people had left." Suki stepped forward from behind the base of the large refracting telescope Sokka had built. "Most people think you had left for good, but my fiance noticed you have two spacecraft orbiting our world."

"We have two satellites," The man sat on a chair offered to him by Sokka. "One takes pictures of the planet and sends the information to Duria while the second one studies the geology and other aspects of the planet. They have a strictly scientific mission – nothing more. We have an interest in your civilization – yes?"

Suki didn't fully believe this and found the idea of people spying on the planet from space a disquieting thought. "Are you sure?" She asked forcefully.

"You can chose to trust me or not."

"Why haven't all your people left?" Sokka sat down in a badly built wooden chair of his own making which creaked when he sat down.

"Your planet faces destruction," In the dim light of the oil lamps, the man looked young, had dark red hair and a thin freckled face. Suki found his severe tone didn't fit with his jovial youthful looks and this caught her attention. "Prince Eigen left for his safety when the Fire Nation erupted into civil war but the reality of your destruction at the hands of Sozin's Comet has not changed. Your world lacks crucial advances in technology and science that might allow you to survive and a century may not give you enough time to become developed."

"We're backward hicks," Sokka adjusted himself in the chair, "because we can't build the rockets and fancy gadgets you have?"

"Blame the Great War," Istefar admitted. "You have lost a hundred years of time to develop technologically. Blame ancient institutions like the Earth Kingdom since the monarchs never placed value on learning and science. We can play a game and try to dole out all the blame but that doesn't help. I came to enlist your help as an ambassador of sorts between our two people. When the Imperial court sent Prince Eigen; they made a mistake because they didn't begin by building up a diplomatic foundation – a base upon which to build a relationship."

"You came to insult us?" Suki spoke up sharply. "Good start!"

"Events will not move quickly on our world," Istefar told Sokka. Suki didn't matter in his mind as she was a woman and he ignored her or rather did not know how to reply to her anger. Suki handed him a heavy blanket to warm up his rain soaked bones. Suki insisted that Sokka and his new friend return to the house to warm up and dry out and she fussed of the guest. "We have a totalitarian society and the authorities will tell the public if and only if they deem it a necessity."

"Imagine what you could teach us!" Sokka nodded to Suki as she handed him a cup of warm tea and placed a lamp in the center of the table. "We could learn new science, to sail the stars like my father sails the oceans."

"Technology doesn't confer wisdom," Istefar spoke with a manner that reminded Sokka and Suki of Uncle Iroh. He had a kind of wisdom and self reliance of someone willing to travel on a war torn planet divorced from his own people. He struck Sokka as an unwilling iconoclast who had come to accept his fate. "Technology gives you the means to better feed people, cure disease and launch space craft. It may also give rise to great greed and turn your planet into a vast junk heap."

"On our travels with the Avatar we came upon a village of people starving and ill because the Fire Nation had a smelter that dumped pollution into the river and destroyed their way of life." Sokka said sadly. "My sister Katara insisted that we help them by destroying the smelter and cleaning the river."

"I opposed contact between our two peoples," Istefar spoke bluntly and yet kindly. "and I refused to supply information on your people after the Great War. I realized we could never have equitable contact and trade and I realized our leaders had no interest in an equitable relationship."

"What about your warnings about the impact of Sozin's comet in under a century?" Sokka asked.

"What of it?" Istefan peered over the dim, orange lamplight at Sokka. "Have you wondered why your own astronomers never predicted this? You have orbital dynamics and all of the skills you need to calculate the position of any planet in the solar system a hundred thousand years into the future. They raised no concerns because so far as they can know from the observations they have; Sozin's comet will not strike your planet. I have not contacted my people for many months and given my position; those in charge of such plans would not have told me. I suspect they have a plan to force Sozin's comet into a path where it will blunder in your world. The Durian Empire will come along and save your skin at the last chance and you will accept them for saving your world. I offer this a guess but it happens to fit the facts."

Suki fussed around her crude but comfortable wooden kitchen and stoked the pot bellied stove for more warmth. She had a mixture of shock and disgust in her voice and imagined the aims of the Durian Empire did not differ all that much from the aims of powerful yet evil men she had known. "Why such an evil plan!"

"Colonial domination," Istefan said with moral disgust in his voice, "if we save your society then you will come to accept us. With your less powerful technology and the effects of a hundred years of War in your own world; you would then allow us in to conduct industry and mining with our promise to help you develop your technology. It's all a farce and in the end we would rule you and exploit you for labor."

Suki dropped the stoker.

"They wish to make you a colony," Istefar took care not to sound like he intended to correct Suki, " so think of it as less than slavery but nowhere near independence either."

"What do we do?" Sokka asked the damp looking stranger.

"We had some luck," Istefar crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair, "they sent Prince Eigen because his minders thought the young prince would prove inoffensive and perhaps appeal to people in the same way as the young Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko. Eigen had a position of little importance as a provincial governor and no experience as a diplomat but he was naïve and easily led. They used the young prince as a pawn: the young prince had no idea of the larger scale plans the Imperial Court had for the world. They had not anticipated Ozai's escape and the resulting civil war."

Sokka did not think Prince Eigen the kind to actively take part in evil plans, "I thought_ he came_ with good intentions."

"Not all Durians are players: most are pawns," Istefar cautioned, "and many would object to this kind of exploitation of another race. I suspect Prince Eigen would speak up against it as he has a strong moral conscience coupled with a strong sense of duty. Prince Eigen had a rather unremarkable upbringing and never demonstrated any above average talent for military, government or academics. The only useful skill he demonstrated was psychic powers – he could read minds. This made him useful for the mission because he could read thoughts of your people and unwittingly collect intelligence. He would have little or no knowledge of the larger plans."

Suki took a seat next to Sokka and in spite of Istefar's uneasiness around her spoke out. "How does this help us?"

"The _Imperial Court _makes no mistake twice." Istefar continued. "They will take time to plan a new interplanetary mission. They will take time to select new people with all the proper training and putting in place all the resources needed. This mission failed and it will take time to hide the evidence that it ever took place. They will only proceed when absolutely sure they will succeed in their diplomacy."

Suki eyed Istefar with grave concern and doubt, "why did you come on such a night as this to warn us?"

Istefar looked to Sokka but replied to Suki, "I had a choice. I could live on my Homeworld as a pawn but I chose to remain here and taste some measure of freedom."

* * *

"You have orders to appear in front of your father," Azula complained as she had since they had stepped on board the shuttle for the City of Jelalia, "I had no such orders so why did you drag me along?"

Eigen spoke with some candor, "this involves you as much as me. _We_ have orders to appear whether they mentioned you by name or not – they expect _us_ to appear. I know my own people and the greater the ambiguity and greater the formality of the order; the more severe the consequences for insubordination." Prince Eigen looked out the window for any sign of activity in the shuttle bay of space station. A yellow robotic tractor had loaded the luggage and then left and an hour later; the shuttle had not moved. He saw the gray steel walls of the shuttle bay and the pipes and ducts that controlled the air supply and operated the hydraulics needed to launch shuttles but he saw no human activity.

"I have to go to the washroom." Azula complained to Eigen.

"I wouldn't recommend it." Eigen said, "our washrooms are made to suit male physiology if you get my drift. I have no idea how you would make it work."

The shuttle had no gravity since the shuttle bay lay in the zero gravity hub of the space station and the shuttle had no capacity for artificial gravity for the task of ferrying passengers from the station to the planet didn't require it. The hour or two long flight without gravity didn't unduly stress the human frame although the washrooms did test human patience. The shuttle could hold about five hundred passengers although on this flight it had only about two hundred. Unlike a passenger jet, the shuttle had no wings and relied on a flattened disc shape like a Frisbee to provide lift. The shuttle had to shed velocity in the atmosphere and that meant allowing the friction of re-entry to perform its job of absorbing kinetic energy and turn it into heat. Disc shaped wings that swept as far forward as the cockpit at the front did this job very well by providing much more surface area for catching the thin air and slowing the ship down.

Azula heard a loud bang and the shuttle moved slowly to the side. A few moments later another pop and the shuttle moved slowly forward and glided past the large front doors of the shuttle bay with no sense of motion. Azula sat next to Eigen who had the window seat and she could see nothing but the blue disc of the planet below her and the gleam of the almost perfect white of the hull of the shuttle as the Sun shone off its disc shaped wings. The shuttle looked more graceful than most Imperial space craft and the interior was well appointed with the familiar blue velvet seats and gray carpeting and plastic interior surfaces. She felt herself floating against the harness that held her in her padded blue seat. The stewards had made sure everyone had strapped into the five point harness and checked the belts before they had even loaded the luggage under the ship. Another pop came and Azula felt a soft push forward and the ship drifted away from the space station and seemed to fall from it and turn around. A minute later a roar sounded from the engines for five seconds.

"De – orbit burn." Eigen told Azula if for no other reason than she kept trying to look out the window and she kept him from reading the inflight magazine. He knew a passenger could see almost nothing out the window and made no attempt to try. The shuttle descended with the flatter surface of the disc facing the planet and all a passenger saw as they watched was the lovely white, orange and blue streamers of plasma.

"What will your father tell you?" Azula said as she felt her body pushed back as the shuttle began to slow in the upper reaches of the planet's atmosphere.

"He will exile me," Eigen had no sign of emotion in his voice as he spoke, "he will strip me of my title and send me to be forgotten on one of the more remote parts of the planet."

"What will happen to me?"

"Much the same thing, I would guess. They will want you to stay out of the way."

Eigen felt the vibrations of the floor as the shuttle descended into the atmosphere. Azula felt uneasy as she saw a white streamer flash past the leading edge of the wing. At first the lights twinkled and danced along the edge but as the noise grew from a rumble to a roar, she saw orange filaments drawn out into straight lines by the shuttle's velocity.

Re – entry seemed to take only a moment in Azula's mind. The fire died away and she saw only dark blue sky and heard almost complete silence as the craft seemed to fall under her feet. This was an illusion: the shuttle had left the sound waves it made far behind. Azula had no way of knowing how fast the craft traveled since she could see no landmarks.

The longest part of the trip happened between the time the shuttle exited re – entry and the time it landed at Jelalia. The city of Jelalia had strict regulations about the noise made by aircraft and spacecraft flying over the delicate towers of the city and prohibited sonic booms within three hundred kilometers. The shuttle had to lose most of its speed and fall below the speed of sound before it crossed that boundary.

Eigen could see the dark clouds of an autumn depression far below as the shuttle banked and turned to the north. He pointed out the window so Azula could see the fluffy tops of the clouds. Azula looked out at the clouds and a nervous look crossed her face: she had not reckoned that the return of the sensations of _up_ and _down_ would exaggerate the appearance of heights in her mind. The trip had seemed like a fall into infinity and now she could not tell if the top of the gray and heavy clods lay a few hundred meters below or many kilometers.

The sudden rush of sound announced the transition into subsonic travel. The craft leveled out and as it went through the transition zone from smooth supersonic travel to sub sonic flight; it shed the shock waves that formed on the wings and control surfaces. Passengers inside the shuttle felt a rough series of shocks and drops as the shock waved fell away from the wings.

The longest part of the return to the planet always came when the shuttle had to fly to the destination under conventional jet power. The heavy craft could survive the heat of re – entry but needed powerful jet engines to fly through the thick atmosphere of Duria without falling to the ground like a stone. Azula badly needed to use a washroom and noted this fact with great annoyance.

The weather near the city proved foul. As the craft began to descent to the city, the clouds thickened and rain streamed onto the windows. The ride grew rough as the cloud closed in on the shuttle and limited visibility to a few meters. Eigen knew countless electronic radar systems and computers guided them down to the city without incident but Azula felt panicked as the impenetrable dark mist and rain shrouded the craft.

The low cloud deck prevented any aerial views of Jelalia – the Imperial City. Azula watched a tall circular tower fly past. The shuttle made a slight bank and she could see the dark almost black water in tortured waved hundred of meters below. The landing came as a complete anti – climax. Azula could not see enough to noticed they had stopped and landed on a circular platform. The shuttle sank below the landing level on a large elevator and passengers took off their harnesses and rooting through the overhead baggage compartments. A ramp opened under the shuttle to drop the passengers off.

Azula badly needed a washroom but on a planet of genetically engineered men had no idea where to find one, "Can you direct me to the washroom?" Azula urgently asked Eigen as they walked off the ramp of the shuttle.

"You are a demanding person!" Eigen walked slowly toward the brightly lit spaceport lobby. He had expected to meet his father or a representative sent by him to take both of them into custody but he met no one.

Azula asked in a grave whisper, "when do the assassins place their knives against our throats?" She followed Eigen into the brightly lit lobby and her instincts told her to expect an ambush.

"I wish I knew," Eigen looked up at the slanting, steep glass roof and the walkways that connected different sections of the space port together. A hologram depicting the coat of arms of Jelalia hovered in the center of the oddly shaped lobby. "It occurs to me that my father has more to fear from your powers than he does from me. He may have decided to take a subtler approach to greeting us."

Azula felt a painful sensation that began at her back and in an instant paralyzed her. She saw Eigen fall over and then she tipped forward on her feet onto the hard metal floor.

* * *

Eigen woke up laying on a hospital bed in a brightly lit room protected by two guards he recognized as elite members of the security forces – the _Gray Line_ - from their black metal helmets and black robes. He recognized the room as a room used by the security apparatus for interrogations, searches and conducting random inspections of passengers. Travel in the Empire was not free for everyone and sometimes members of certain castes not permitted to leave, wanted criminals or exiles wishing to return; would pass through a space port, wind up in these rooms and end up in prison or worse. Criminals and those wanted by the security apparatus might try to escape on a space flight so these rooms existed in all space ports but discretely hidden from public notice.

Eigen noticed the silver insignia worn by the guards with disbelief – they were elite Telepaths of the Imperial Court. Eigen realized he had attracted the attention of some very bad sorts – the elite_ Gray Line_ was a walking bad dream, the elite telepaths of the _Black Line_ were a vision of Hell itself. The inverted silver triangle with the dot in the center told Eigen these men could do real damage to the mind of anyone who resisted. They had great cruelty and the kinds of abilities that would make even powerful Princes Azula think twice before acting rashly. They had a variety of skills, all dreadful. They had projected stunning and unbearable pain into the minds of their targets – a simple but effective means of disabling a captive. Others could kill without leaving a mark, some could erase memories or implant new ones, manipulate computers or machines, force animals into obedience, break objects, pick locks and many other tricks the order never revealed. Such was their power that by law even these genetic super men could never leave the planet.

"We had to retrieve you two," A tall man with a strict looking face and close shaven white hair spoke in a dulcet voice, "because we did not want you seen openly in public before we had time to inform them of recent developments. Young Prince Eigen, the public knows of you as a young member of the Royal family and you once held a position of some importance. The public has not been made aware of the events in the last few weeks. We plan to tell them in due time but we did not wish you or Azula the Princess to reveal anything inadvertently."

"What did you do to Azula?" Eigen asked with fear in his voice.

The second man, a younger man with a well groomed beard waited until Eigen felt truly fearful and then remained still as he spoke without any emotion. "From your reports, we knew had a disease of the mind. We treated her. We provided a simple implant that will help her but in view of her importance to her people, she will remain under your care."

A wave of pain fell over him and choked off his consciousness.

Azula woke up and found she had no need for the washroom but she hadn't wet herself and silently praised herself for self control. The room had a bright panel on the ceiling which gave off an intense blue white light the inhabitants seemed to like but which made her wince. She lay back on the green covers of a hospital bed with screens surround her and a network of wires and electrodes hanging off her head. She saw a black plastic clamp that looked like a stubby clothespin hanging off her left index finger and she pulled it off. A high pitched alarm went off and three men in ornate black and gray uniforms with silver braid rushed into the room. They all had long black hair and said nothing. One of them held a box and the other two held their hands on their holsters.

Azula glanced around at all of them and held a kind of absurd fascination as she wondered what they might do. One man with long, sleek black hair had a small box and the alarm grew silent when he pressed a button on it.

Azula decided to state the obvious, "what am I doing here?"

The men said nothing as two of them walked to either side of her bed and picked her up and set her on her feet. She wrenched her hands from their grasp and indignantly brushed herself off.

She had thought of giving these men a taste of her fire bending but as she thought about it, a strange sensation took hold and she could read lines of text in her field of vision in black characters as her field of vision lost contrast and color. She could read the cursive characters of the Emfeli language as the message appeared: "_An error has occurred – this action is not permitted._"

The man with long sleek black hair stood in front of her and spoke with the kind of terrifying, threatening tone she had used to much effect, "we have made some small modifications to your mind. Perhaps you will prove to be less problematic and you will pose less of a threat to us. You may think freely and act as you wish within proper limits but actions of violence against others will be blocked."

"How?" Azula asked weakly as she felt around the base of her skull.

"Cybernetic surgery," said the black haired man as if it explained everything. "We planted a device in your brain that now does some of the work of your diseased mind but Prince Eigen has the time to explain how this is achieved."

Azula looked down for a moment, "what happened to him?"

"Follow us," the second man said as he stood beside her, "we will take you to her."

* * *

Eigen had anticipated the _Black Line_ telepaths would not leave Azula unmodified. They were called the _Black Line_ because they were the invisible security forces that held back chaos behind an invisible 'black' line and punished or made alterations to those who crossed it. "Cybernetic implant?" Prince Eigen sat on a blue couch in an apartment on the sixty third floor of a tall apartment spire that rose to a hundred floors. Azula had spent her first day at the apartment assigned to them remaining stoically silent as she watched the rain.

Azula chose to remain silent although she could understand Eigen's Emfeli perfectly and speak without an accent. She had found out the butchers had kept her for two days and her resentment boiled over and she hated Durians – even Eigen. Azula noted with some interest the triangular shape of the apartment tower – an odd choice. She had never seen a building taller than ten stories but this one seemed to have the white, concrete look of so many of the buildings in Jelalia and this took away much of the novelty. She stood at the window and watched the rain beat against the window of the living room in the dim light of evening. A hover jet with blue and green trim lines flew past the window. She could see the bright lights of the interior and about two dozen passengers sat calmly inside. A police hover jet followed a few seconds behind with its bright searchlights passing over the street below. The window did not open – not that it mattered to Azula since she had no desire to breath in any of the damp air. Duria was dreary as was the apartment with its white walls and gray blue carpet, modest looking gray couch, bleached blue wood coffee table and kitchen cabinets made to match. She could see her reflection in the window; she looked pale and deathly blue in the bright, glaring light of the light emitting diodes that gave light to the apartment from behind clear ceiling panels or metal sconces.

Eigen pressed a button and a clear piece of glass hinged up off the coffee table and rose to vertical. It darkened and a news broadcast appeared on it and Eigen tried to look distracted, "I have no easy answers but I knew of what they had done to you."

Azula knew better than to expect contrition or even understanding in Eigen: he had had his brain modified and didn't object to such measures. She looked out on the alien landscape of tall buildings. On a sea platform moored to the seabed the buildings went up since the cost of expanding the platform cost more. Each one of the thirty five million denizens of Jelalia had an apartment, some had posh ones and some even had the luxury of patios or a deck garden. The authorities had assigned this apartment to them with the idea Eigen could keep Azula hidden and they could keep both of them out of the way until the Imperial Court decided what to do with them. A small taxi painted bright yellow with a bright white illuminated sign hung off its rotors as it hovered for a moment and then ascended into the cloud filled skies like a dragonfly.

Eigen watched the screen: he knew why they had wound up in the civil service flats – the buildings of this block housed computer programmers and information scientists – a class of people who did not need or value elaborate digs. As the sky darkened she began to see the colored lights of signs from street level and those that hung off tall buildings. A tall hundred story tower a block away flashed advertisements on a garish sign that seemed to attract the eye. Other colors came from below and pushed the goods of street level vendors.

"Can we go out?" Azula turned around.

Eigen looked up from the screen, "and do what?" Eigen wondered if Azula would enjoy walking around the vast and sprawling malls in the commercial level beneath the towers of the residential level. He had no idea if Azula even would enjoy what Durians called 'entertainment'. He had to find out how far his minders would let him roam with Azula since they had told him nothing. He pressed the button and the screen fell back into the table.

"Why not?" Eigen stood up. "I can at least give you a tour."

Eigen had lost his position and had no idea if the computers in the apartment would let him leave. When the light metal door door slip obediently open, he breathed a sigh of relief although he half expected to face a wall of pain as he walked down the hallway toward the point of the triangle that formed the building and contained the elevators. The blue doors of the elevators slid open and Eigen felt no pain.

Azula followed quietly behind and wondered to herself why the Durians had such stark interiors in their buildings. They picked white for walls, stark blue white lights illuminated the halls in a dim kind of light that made her red robes look bland and dead. The blue doors of the lift slid open with a click and she saw the back of the car had a single large window that looked out on the garishly lit city far beyond the apartment.

"Commerce level please," Eigen said politely.

Azula watched the doors slide closed and watched the ground below. Far below she could see street traffic – buses and trains rushing around with people moving on the sidewalk in that odd but organized pattern that emerged from seeing them from a distance.

Azula looked out the window as the elevator began sliding toward the ground

"Why do you speak so politely to a machine," Azula asked as she grasped the steel bar that kept people from leaning against the tempered glass. "Does the lift care?" She made no point of hiding her alienation from this place and the strange culture and wished Eigen to know she felt not in the least bit welcomed in the manner befitting a princess. "So far I have seen people speak to machines as if the machine can take offense. Your people took the liberty of kidnapping me and mucking about in my brain."

Eigen stood near the doors with his hands behind his back, "I say_ please_ out of habit and the Imperial Court does what it wants and the best telepaths act as their enforcers."

You're a telepath," Azula said incredulously, "and you can read thoughts."

Eigen nodded, "but I am not close to their caliber and I am thankful for not having that burden. Powerful telepaths are half mad neurotics without emotion or any kind of sympathy in their characters. They receive orders and carry them out _without_ thinking of the ethics of their actions. No human can live like this so some go psychotic and must be put down, others die in the line of duty and worst of all, the rest become mindless vegetables without a will; living out their lives as dead men."

Azula said nothing for a few moments as the elevator descended into a long illuminated tube, but then spoke up, "you don't say."

The elevator slowed down and then emerged in a brightly lit room with a pyramid shaped room of vast dimensions surrounded by shops arranged in levels. The room had many tall plants and lush trees on the walkways that encircled the huge room. Elevators descended into small lobbies around the perimeter of the huge room and the courtyard had tables arranged among potted trees and small kiosks arranged in a quadrangle. A shallow fountain made a show of colored lights and rising spurts of water that made delicate arcs in the midst of the huge room. The elevator slowly came to a halt at the courtyard level and the doors opened to let Eigen and Azula out. They walked out onto a light pink marble walkway.

Azula looked around and noticed the other men of all different ages ignoring her and asked Eigen as she tugged his shirt, "how come they don't notice me?"

Eigen walked alongside Azula and watched the mix of people, "perhaps because you don't exist at least not in the minds of most people."

Azula walked carefully along the light pink walkway and enjoyed the bright light of the courtyard but wondered why she didn't feel the huge platform lurching or moving in that slow roll she had felt on even the biggest Fire Nation ships. She felt too overwhelmed to find Eigen's enigmatic remarks annoying. She almost whispered to Eigen, "what do you mean?"

Eigen began on a long diatribe but curbed his voice to a calm whisper, "they have never seen a woman, nor do they know of your planet except for a few facts memorized in a childhood science class. You look human and roughly like me and you dress much like us and so they might think of you as a part of the commerce class because of the clothes you wear; call it herd psychology. Part of our sorry excuse for a greeting consisted of hammering you down – the nail that sticks up gets noticed – as long as you don't do anything odd then most people will ignore you. They have lives and things to do and couldn't be bothered to inquire about someone they see on the street doing absolutely nothing unusual."

Azula emerged in the huge courtyard and breathed in the odor from a nearby food vendor, "that sounds like a kind of warning not to stick out or act unusual."

Eigen watched two young boys buy a cream cone from the vender who manned a gaudy white cart with a yellow plastic awning decorated with the logos of the kinds of treats he had on offer, "consider it a bit of good advice although you probably don't need to hear it." Eigen walked past the frozen treat vender with his hands behind his back and spoke glumly. "The telepaths probably hammered you down – one of their cybernetics surgeon _programmed_ you not to act odd."

"I had come as a diplomat," Azula explained as if she had to confess setting the clock forward to her fifth class teacher. "I thought I could represent my world, steal the odd secret, spy and generally enjoy the high life afforded the high ambassador of my nation," Azula paused as if waiting for a scolding, "but it went a bit wrong. You lost your title and your people won't accept me as I am - I have to wonder what life holds for me?"

Eigen laughed for a moment and explained his view of events, "you came as a stowaway!" He had a very uncertain future but tried to make the best of it, "if you wonder what your life might hold in store for you – then get used to living on a mining camp on a deserted moon." Eigen said as a weak attempt at humor. He suddenly grew more serious when Azula did not appear amused, "uh – never mind."

Azula changed her tone and decided to find some real facts out about this strange floating city. "How does this place stay still in the middle of a stormy ocean? I have spend much of my life on naval ships and even the biggest ones roll – this platform doesn't move at all as far as I can tell."

Eigen looked around the massive room with all of the loose furnishings and realized Azula had no concept of computer control systems and counterweights and began with basics. "The platform floats like a big ship on the ocean but anchors keep it in place." Eigen knew the term anchor hardly fit a massive titanium spike driven into the seabed on the end of a huge diamond filament as thick as a car but he kept things simple. "Hundreds of them allow this place to float but keep it from moving. It does move – a few meters from side to side and up and down but we have systems that keep the motion from being felt."

Azula could not identify the trees in the courtyard: she saw none of the familiar palms in evidence. She saw conifers with long, sharp green needles as tall as a four story house and smelled an unfamiliar smell like mothballs and cinnamon in her mind. Other low lying bushes grew in neat beds besides the walkways and she saw a small red haired animal with long hair look up at her. She had to remind herself of the massive ice sheets that covered the planet to the fiftieth parallel and that this world had a climate much colder than her home. She would not see tropical plants here and animals had to evolve to adapt to the cold.


End file.
